Diabetes

Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which your body is unable to properly use and store glucose. Glucose backs up in the bloodstream causing your blood glucose or

"sugar" to rise too high.

There are two major types of diabetes, Type I and Type II. In Type I diabetes, your body completely stops producing any insulin, a hormone that lets your body use glucose found in foods for energy. People with Type I diabetes must take daily insulin injections to survive. This form of diabetes usually develops in children or young adults, but can happen at any age. In Type II diabetes, the body produces insulin, but not enough to properly convert food into energy. This form of diabetes usually occurs in people who are over 40, overweight, and have a family history of diabetes.

People with diabetes often experience symptoms. Some of the symptoms are: 1)being very thirsty

2)having to go to the bathroom very frequently

3)weight loss

4)increased hunger

5)blurry vision

6)skin infections

7)wounds that don't heal

8)and/or extreme unexplained fatigue

In some cases, there are no symptoms, this happens at times with Type II diabetes. In this case, people can live for months, even years without knowing they have the disease. This form of diabetes comes on so gradually that symptoms might not even be recognized.

Diabetes can occur in anyone. However, people who have close relatives with the disease are somewhat more likely to develop it. The risk of getting diabetes also increases as people grow older. People who are over 40 and overweight are more likely to get diabetes. So are people of African-American,

Hispanic or Asian heritage. Also, people who develop diabetes while pregnant are more likely to develop full-blown diabetes later in life.

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... period showed that if people keep their blood sugars as close to normal as possible, they can reduce their risk of developing some of these complications by 50 percent or more.

A study being conducted at Joslin Diabetes Center and several other sites nationwide is screening the immediate relatives of someone with Type I diabetes because we can now identify those who will develop this form of the disease as much as five or more years in advance.

Type II diabetes is the most common type of diabetes, yet we still do not understand it very well. But recent research does suggest that there are some things you can do to prevent this form of diabetes, particularly if it runs in your family, or if you have had gestational diabetes, or if you are a member of an ethnic group that is more prone to this disease.

In simplest terms, to prevent or slow the development of Type II diabetes you should try to maintain your weight in as normal a range as possible.

If you are overweight, lose weight. And, try to develop a regular exercise program, as the exercise will help your body use insulin more effectively.