Diabetes Guide

A brief guide to diabetes, what it is and what types of diabetes are there

What is diabetes?

If you think that you are prone to diabetes, the first thing that you need to know is to understand what is the illness all about. Experts say that diabetes is a chronic disease, which develop among people who have the inability to utilize the glucose in their food to be used as energy. The illness develops when the accumulated glucose stays in the person's bloodstream for a long time. Over a period of time, this amount of glucose, can bring potential harm to the person's other organs such as the eyes, kidneys, heart, and even the nerves themselves.

What types of diabetes are there?

After having sufficient knowledge about it and how the disease develops, the next step is to know what kind of diabetes that are known and acknowledged by experts and physicians. Today, there are three major types of diabetes including "Type 1 diabetes," "Type 2 diabetes," and "Gestational diabetes." Knowing what they are and what sets each one apart from one other will help people who are prone to diabetes where to focus in trying to manage their condition.

Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes otherwise known as "juvenile diabetes" or "insulin-dependent diabetes," is considered as the least common type of diabetes there is. Experts say that it is an auto-immune disease that makes the body's immune system—which serves as a shield against infection—gone not of working order, thus, savaging the cells located in the pancreas which is responsible for producing insulin. For people—especially those who are prone to diabetes—insulin is very important in breaking down the food once eaten.

People who suffer from type 1 diabetes has the inability to make insulin, thus, their body's are easily damaged by the accumulate glucose in the body. Since they need insulin to get by, people who are suffering from this type of diabetes need a regular supply of insulin 24/7. Children and young adults are prone to this type of diabetes but this can occur at any age or can be a result of an illness. Type 1 diabetes sufferers exhibit characteristics such as onset thirst, often urination, and drastic weight loss.

Type 2 diabetes

Next is the type 2 diabetes, which is also known as "non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus" and "adult-onset diabetes". What sets it apart from the type 1diabetes is that the person suffering from this has the ability to make insulin it's just that the amount produced in not enough for the body to use it efficiently.

This type is considered as the common type of diabetes, which usually develops among people who are more than 40 years of age. People who are prone to this type of diabetes are usually those who are overweight or obese and those that have sedentary lifestyle. Being a progressive disease, type 2 diabetes can also lead to more severe complications like diseases including the heart, the kidney, the eyes through blindness and amputation or loss of limbs. People who suffer from type 2 diabetes are also characterized by slow or onset thirstiness, repeated urination, and loss of weight, which usually develops in a span of weeks to months.

Gestational diabetes

The last type is called "gestational diabetes" which develops during pregnancy. Normally, this type of diabetes ends after giving birth but there are also those cases in some women that develop this type diabetes as they get older. Gestational diabetes, though it is common among pregnant women, should be monitored because there's a big chance of leading to type 2 diabetes.

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