Managing Diabetes

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Diabetes is a disease that causes the human body to not create or not use insulin effectively. The body needs insulin to take the energy or sugars and turn it into energy. The human body needs energy to survive. Diabetes can be broken into three main categories. Type 1 diabetes is where the body makes no insulin at all. Type 2 diabetes is where the body does not produce enough insulin or it does not use it correctly. Gestational diabetes is more of a type 2 diabetes for pregnant women, which usually returns to normal after birth (Ruder 7-8).

Having too much glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream or a blood sugar level consistently over 126 milligrams of glucose per deciliter means that individual is diabetic. Healthy non diabetics will have a fasting blood sugar of 70 to 110 mg/dL. “The medical term for this condition is diabetes mellitus. Mellitus is a Latin word meaning ‘honey sweet,’ referring to excess sugar in your blood and urine” (Collazo-Clavell 7).

Insulin is a hormone that is made by beta cells in the pancreas. “A hormone is a chemical that is manufactured in one part of the body and travels through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, where is has powerful effects” (Greene 9). Insulin helps transport glucose into the cells. If this energy cannot make it to the cells one cannot survive (Greene 9).

Insulin plays a very important role in the way cells handle everything from carbohydrates, proteins, and even fats. The human body needs glucose, which it gathers from carbohydrates. Glucose is what gives the cells the energy to perform their job, especially the brain. The brain almost only uses glucose to operate. Carbohydrates come in three forms: sugars, starches, and fiber. Sugars are a simple carbohydrate. Simple car...

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