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What Is Diabetes? - A High Level Overview
There are three primary types of diabetes that people are thinking of when they ask, "What is diabetes?" These types of diabetes are the most common forms found in the United States and affect a majority of individuals at some point in their life.
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 kind 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. If this condition is not treated medically 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.
Type 2 diabetes is caused by obesity, lack of exercise, some ethnicity's, a person's age and, in some cases, genetics. Other causes for this type of diabetes include high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Unhealthy eating habits are the greatest cause for Type 2 diabetes. When a person has a lifestyle that does not include proper diet and exercise, they are greatly susceptible to Type 2 diabetes.
When an individual develops Type 2 diabetes the symptoms will occur gradually over a long period of time. They will have fatigue, increased thirty, hunger, slow healing of wounds and sores, blurred vision, and frequent urination.
Most of the time if a person changes their lifestyle, loses weight, and begins to exercise, they will be able to resolve their Type 2 diabetes. In some cases people must continue medication for the diabetes, but this rarely occurs.
About three to eight percent of women in their 2nd trimester of pregnancy gets Gestational diabetes. The diabetes often does not have any symptoms and is resolved with the birth of the baby. When a woman is found to have gestational diabetes she will normally be instructed to begin a proper diet and exercise program to keep the diabetes in check during the pregnancy.
In a large percentage of 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.
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