What Is Diabetes? – An Overview

When people ask, “What is diabetes?” they usually have are asking about one of three diabetes types that most people are familiar with. When a person takes a brief look at what is diabetes, they will find that these types of diabetes can be resolved with a change in lifestyle, while other require a life time of insulin medication or shots.

About five to ten percent of children and young adults in the United States are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes each year. This diabetes is a result of an auto-immune disease. The immune system attacks the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas and kills them. When this happens the pancreas produces too little insulin to support the body.

Most cases of Type 1 diabetes have a sudden onset of symptoms which include extreme thirst, frequent urination, extreme hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and/or extreme fatigue. When there is no medical treatment for this condition it can result in diabetic ketoacidosis, or diabetic coma. This is a serious and life-threatening condition when it is not treated.

Over 95% of adults over thirty-five in the United States have Type 2 diabetes according to the National Institute of Health. 80% of these individuals are overweight. When a person has Type 2 diabetes their cells become resistant to insulin and do not get the glucose they need to be healthy.

The causes for this type of diabetes include some ethnicity’s, age, genetics, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, obesity, and high cholesterol. An individual that does not have a proper diet and exercise are susceptible to type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that unhealthy eating habits are the greatest cause for Type 2 diabetes.

The symptoms for Type 2 diabetes are gradual and include fatigue, blurred vision, increased thirst and hunger, frequent urination, and slow healing of wounds and sores.

In many cases when an individual changes their lifestyle and begins eating properly and exercising, the diabetes will resolve itself. These people do not need to take medication. However, there are cases when the diabetes is not resolved with diet and exercise and medication must be taken at that time.

Women in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy can get gestational diabetes. This diabetes occurs in 3-8% of pregnant women and is resolved when they have the baby. Many women who develop this diabetes during pregnancy are instructed on the proper exercise and diet to keep the diabetes in control when they are pregnant.

Most women who have gestational diabetes with a baby, will continue to develop the condition each time they get pregnant. There is about a forty percent risk that they will develop Type 2 diabetes later in life.

Outlook: Some diabetes statistics.

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