What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not properly control the amount of sugar in the blood stream. As a result, the level of sugar in the blood is too high. When the body does not produce enough insulin or does not use it properly, this disease occurs.
Recognizing a symptom or sign for diabetes is important – diabetes can be life-threatening. Diabetes can be caused by too little insulin in the body or by the inability to utilize the insulin.
The main types of diabetes are:
Type 1 diabetes (often called insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes) – is a chronic (lifelong) disease that occurs when the pancreas produces too little insulin to regulate blood sugar levels appropriately.
Type 2 diabetes (often called adult or non-insulin-dependent diabetes) – is the most common form of diabetes. About 90 to 95 percent of people who have diabetes have type 2 diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes produce insulin, but either not produce enough insulin or their bodies do not utilize the insulin made. Most of the people who have this type of diabetes are overweight.
Gestational Diabetes – is high blood glucose that develops during pregnancy in a woman.
How would you know if you might have diabetes?
The most common symptoms of diabetes include – fatigue, increased appetite, increased thirst, blurred vision, frequent urination, slow-healing infections and even impotence in adult males.
By exhibiting any of these signs does not necessarily mean you have diabetes though. The best way to determine this is to visit your doctor and request the fasting blood glucose level test. If this test shows the blood glucose level is higher than 126 mg/dl on two different tests, Diabetes is diagnosed.
There is no cure for diabetes at the moment, so what should one do if diagnosed with diabetes? The objectives are to keep your blood sugars stabilized as much as possible. By maintaining a balanced blood sugar level, you can eliminate any possibility of immediate or semi-immediate problems – in turn … prolonging ones life.
Remember, life doesn’t stop because you have diabetes; it merely becomes more of a challenge. The good news on the other hand is the cure for diabetes may not be that far off. Until then, keep your blood sugars regulated, eat right and exercise daily.
Recognizing a symptom or sign for diabetes is important – diabetes can be life-threatening. Type 2 diabetes (often called non-insulin-dependent or adult diabetes) – is the most common form of diabetes. About 90 to 95 percent of people who have diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is diagnosed if this test shows the blood glucose level is higher than 126 mg/dl on two different tests.
There is no cure for diabetes at the moment, so what should one do if diagnosed with diabetes?
