Diabetes

Diabetes is a result of problems with the pancreatic hormone insulin. Insulin controls the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood and the rate at which glucose is absorbed into the cells. The cells need glucose to produce energy. In people with diabetes, glucose builds up in the bloodstream instead of being taken into and used by the cells, leading to hyperglycemia (abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood). Eventually, hyperglycemia leads to damaged blood vessels, which in turn, may cause eye disease, heart disease, peripheral and autonomic neuropathy (nerve damage in the limbs and internal organs), and diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease).

There are two major types of diabetes. Type 1 (or insulin-dependent-diabetes mellitus, IDDM) and type 2 (non-insulin-dependent-diabetes mellitus, NIDDM). Type 1 affects 5 to 10 percent of people with diabetes and usually starts at an early age. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Type 2, by far the most common form of diabetes, affects 90 to 95 percent of diabetes sufferers. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does produce insulin in small quantities, but not enough to fuel the cells. Many people have type 2 diabetes and are completely unaware of it. This type of diabetes usually begins in later years, although, unfortunately, it is now becoming more common in young people. Risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes include diet, weight, race, age, lack of exercise, and heredity.