What is diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus is a disease that prevents your body
from properly using the energy from the food you eat. Diabetes can occur when
the pancreas (an organ behind your stomach) produces little insulin or no
insulin at all. It also can occur when the pancreas makes insulin, but the
insulin made does not work as it should. This condition is called insulin
resistance.
What is insulin?
Insulin is a naturally-occurring hormone-- produced by
the beta cells of the pancreas-- that helps the body use glucose for energy.
Understanding metabolism
To understand diabetes better, it helps to know more
about how the body uses food for energy (a process called metabolism). Your body
is made up of millions of cells. To make energy, the cells need food in a very
simple form. When you eat or drink, much of your food is broken down into a
simple sugar called glucose. Glucose (sugar) provides the energy your body needs
for daily activities.
The blood and blood vessels are the highways that
transport glucose from where it is either taken in (the stomach) or manufactured
(in the liver) to the cells where it is used (muscles) or where it is stored
(fat). Glucose cannot go into the cells by itself. The pancreas releases a
substance called insulin into the blood which serves as the helper, or the "key"
that lets glucose into the cells for use as energy. When glucose leaves the
bloodstream and enters the cells, the blood glucose level is lowered.
Compare the human body to a car. To start a car, you
must turn the key to move the gas to the engine. Without insulin, or the "key,"
glucose cannot get into the body's cells for use as energy. This causes glucose
to rise. Too much glucose in the blood is called "high blood sugar" or diabetes.
Types of diabetes
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes occurs because the insulin-producing
cells (called beta cells) of the pancreas are damaged. People with type 1
diabetes produce little or no insulin, so glucose cannot get into the body's
cells for use as energy. This causes blood glucose to rise. People with type 1
diabetes MUST use insulin injections to control their blood glucose.
The damage to insulin-producing cells in type 1
diabetes occurs over a period of years. However, the symptoms of type 1 diabetes
may occur over a period of days to weeks. Type 1 is the most common form of
diabetes in people under age 20, but it can occur at any age.