Hello Friends. We usually hear people saying “I have high Sugar”. “I have to take Sugar Tablet before meals”. “Don’t put Sugar in Tea”. “Please take the sweets. I should not eat.” “I have to take Insulin.” Most of the people use the term SUGAR for DIABETES.

Nowadays “Diabetes” has become a very common problem. Many websites have information on this condition, such as Rolling Paper, that help to educate people. It is everywhere. What is Diabetes? What causes Diabetes? What are it’s types? Can it be cured? Can it be prevented? What is Insulin?

This Article is going to answer all the above questions.

What is Diabetes?

In simple words, Diabetes means the level of glucose in blood is too high. Blood always has some glucose in it because human body needs glucose for energy. But too much of glucose in the blood isn’t good for health.

How Glucose enters the body?

Glucose comes from the food we eat and is also made in our liver and muscles. Blood carries the glucose to all of the cells in human body.

What is Insulin? What is its role?

Insulin is a chemical (a hormone) made by pancreas. The pancreas releases insulin into the blood. Insulin helps the glucose from food get into the cells.

If the body does not make enough insulin or if the insulin doesn’t work the way it should, glucose can’t get into the cells. It stays in the blood itself. Then the blood glucose level then gets too high, causing pre-diabetes or diabetes.

Glucose is present in foods such as breads, cereals, fruit and starchy vegetables, legumes, milk, yoghurt and sweets. When our body is not producing enough Insulin, the glucose can’t be converted into energy.

What are the Types of Diabetes?

There are three main kinds of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. The result of type 1 and type 2 diabetes is the same: glucose builds up in the blood, while the cells are starved of energy. That said, in order to learn whether an individual is diabetes-free, in the pre-diabetic stage or suffering from Type 2 diabetes, he has to undergo a diabetes blood test. A diabetes blood test kit purchased from the likes of bloodtest.co.uk can help individuals look at the performance of their blood sugar levels over the last three months. This can further help them to make healthy choices. There are different types of blood tests available, ones that need to be done in a laboratory for advanced testing will be conducted in a controlled environment with such supplies as sterile testing tubes, distilled water 5l, high air quality conditions, etc. so that the results are gathered effectively.

Type 1 Diabetes

• Type 1 diabetes is also called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes.
• It develops most often in young people. However, type 1 diabetes can also develop in adults.
• In this form of diabetes, the human body no longer makes insulin or doesn’t make enough insulin because the immune system has attacked and destroyed the insulin-producing cells.
• About 5 to 10 percent of people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.

People with type 1 diabetes depend on insulin every day of their lives to replace the insulin the body cannot produce. They must test their blood glucose levels several times throughout the day.

The onset of type 1 diabetes typically occurs in people under 30 years, but can occur at any age. About 10-15% of all cases of diabetes are type 1.

Type 2 Diabetes

• Type 2 diabetes is a progressive condition in which the body becomes resistant to the normal effects of insulin and/or gradually loses the capacity to produce enough insulin in the pancreas.
• Type 2 diabetes also has strong genetic and family related risk factors.
• Type 2 Diabetes is diagnosed when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (reduced insulin production) and/or the insulin does not work effectively and/or the cells of the body do not respond to insulin effectively (known as insulin resistance).

Medication in the form of tablets is often required to reduce the resistance to insulin or to stimulate the pancreas to make more insulin.

Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in people over age 40 who are overweight, but it can occur in people who are not overweight. In the past, it was referred to as “adult-onset diabetes,” but now it has started to appear more often in children because of the rise in obesity in young people.

Image Courtesy : Diabesteszone

Gestational Diabetes

• Some women develop gestational diabetes during the late stages of pregnancy.
• Gestational diabetes is caused by the hormones of pregnancy or a shortage of insulin.
• Although this form of diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born, a woman who has had it and her child are more likely to develop diabetes later in life.

Between 5% and 10% of pregnant women will develop gestational diabetes and this usually occurs around the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy.

What causes gestational diabetes?