What Is Diabetes?
Article Source: HealthSnare.com
There is no cure for diabetes. We can only manage and control diabetes by taking certain steps such as proper exercises,suitable diet control and medication throughout our life span. Diabetes is a life long disease which affects the whole body caused by the inability of the body to produce the hormone insulin. Diabetes is not caused by any virus or bacteria and hence non-infectious.
Our body cells use glucose as fuel to function. Our body is made up of billions of cells which act as basic building blocks of our body. Our body uses sugar or glucose as fuel for the functioning of cells in our body. Our body converts the food we take into glucose,and sends it to cells throughout the body. Glucose is carried by the hormone insulin to cells through blood.
Diabetes happens if you are predisposed to it genetically, meaning you inherit it from your parents. It also can happen due to poor eating habits and overweight. The hormone insulin is produced by the organ pancreas situated behind the stomach. A healthy pancreas produces enough insulin and so the body remains healthy. The problem starts when the production of insulin is lower than the requirement. This condition is called diabetes.
If untreated, diabetes affects the whole body and becomes life threatening. Untreated diabetes can damage vital organs such as kidneys and may lead to heart problems. It may attack eyes to cause blindness. It may also lead to coma and death. There are three types of diabetes which are type 1,type 2and type 3.
Type 1 diabetes is sometimes called 'juvenile-onset' diabetes since it affects those who are under thirty years of age. It appears before the age of thirty and is 10%of all cases. Type 1 diabetes is caused when the body immune system destroys insulin producing cells in the pancreas mistakenly identifying them as invaders resulting in insulin deficiency. The main symptoms are unexplained weight loss and hunger.
Type 2 diabetes is associated with sedentary way of life and obesity. The symptoms are frequent urination and excessive thirst. It is also found that type 2 diabetes patients suffer from bouts of depression before the onset of diabetes and it is assumed that there is some kind of link between the two and bouts of depression may be a warning signal of the disease. Type 2 diabetes develops in adults and can be controlled with suitable diets, exercises and medicines. This type is also called adult onset diabetes since it affects those who are above 30 age group. Early diagnosis is vital for managing and controlling this diseases. People suffering this type of diabetes have a condition called insulin resistance wherein the body does not respond efficiently to insulin due to lifestyle reasons such as less exercise and wrong diet habits.
Type 3 diabetes happens to women during pregnancy but disappears after delivery. This is called 'gestational diabetes'.
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Chandrasekaran Rajamani
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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 Time: 3:27 AM
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