Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone produced by pancreas that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy.
The two types of diabetes are referred to as type 1 and type 2.

• Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes.
• Type 2 diabetes - the more common type.

Symptoms

• Hunger and fatigue
• Passing urine more often and being thirstier.
• Dry mouth and itchy skin
• Blurred vision
• Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
• Weight loss - even though you are eating more (type 1)
• Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)

Causes

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body is unable to produce insulin. It is an autoimmune condition. Your immune system (the body's natural defence against infection and illness) mistakes the cells in your pancreas as harmful and attacks them, destroying them completely or damaging them enough to stop them producing insulin.
Type 1 diabetes is often inherited , so the autoimmune reaction may also be genetic.

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin or when the pancreas stops producing enough insulin.Instead of moving into your cells, sugar builds up in your bloodstream. As blood sugar levels increase, the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas produce more insulin, but eventually these cells become impaired and can't make enough insulin to meet the body's demands, leaving the body with little to no insulin.

Diagnosis

A sample of your blood will be taken in the morning, before you've had anything to eat, and it will be tested to measure your blood glucose levels.

Prevention

Exercise, weight control and sticking to your meal plan can help control your diabetes. You should also monitor your blood glucose level and take medicine if prescribed.