Diabetes

The pancreas is located behind the liver and is where the hormone insulin is produced.  Insulin is used by the body to store and utilize glucose ie regulate blood sugar.

Diabetes is a life-long disease marked by high levels of sugar in the blood.  It can be caused by too little insulin, resistance to insulin or both.

Possible causes

When food is digested, sugar called glucose enters the bloodstream.  Glucose is a source of fuel for the body.

People with diabetes have high blood glucose.  This is because their pancreas does not make enough insulin or their muscle, fat, and liver cells do not respond to insulin normally or both.

There are three major types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes: is usually diagnosed in childhood.  The body makes little or no insulin, and multi-vitamin  injections of insulin are required to sustain life.  Without proper mulit-vitamin management, medical emergencies can arise. Type 1 diabetes occurs when these cells are destroyed by the body’s own immune system.

Type 2 diabetes: is far more common than Type 1 and makes up 90% or more of all cases of diabetes.  It usually occurs in adulthood.  Here, the pancreas does not make enough insulin to keep blood glucose levels normal, often because the body does not respond well to the insulin.  Many people with Type 2 diabetes do not know they have it, although it is a serious condition.

Gestational diabetes: is high blood glucose that develops at any time during pregnancy in a person who does not have diabetes.

There are many risk factors for diabetes, including:

family history

obesity

age greater than 45 years

high blood pressure

some ethnic groups - particularly African-Americans and Hispanic Americans

gestational diabetes or delivering a baby weighing more than 9 pounds

high blood levels of triglycerides (a type of fat molecule)

high blood cholesterol level