Diabetes Disease Information

Diabetes is a disease characterized by the body's inability to produce insulin, or its inability to produce enough insulin to regulate blood glucose levels.  The three types of diabetes are Type I, Type II and gestational diabetes, all of which affect a different segment of the population. 

In the United States alone, approximately 25.8 million children and adults are victims of diabetes, a group of metabolic diseases in which a person experiences high blood sugar.  This can be the result of the body’s inability to produce enough insulin, or its failure to respond to insulin that is produced. In 2007, diabetes claimed the lives of 71,382 people and caused complications that led to the death 160,022 Americans. The three main types of diabetes are Type I, Type II and gestational diabetes.    

Type I

Type I diabetes results when the body fails to produce insulin, or more accurately, when the body’s immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. A person with this form of diabetes must have insulin injections to compensate for what the body does not produce. When high sugar levels exist in the body, a number of symptoms can occur including dehydration, weight loss, blindness, and heart problems. The onset of Type I diabetes is usually sudden and typically affects children. 

Type II

Type II diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Type II diabetes occurs when the insulin that is produced by the body is not enough to regulate the level of sugar or glucose in the body. Without adequate insulin, sugar cannot get into the blood cells, and builds up in the body instead. Symptoms that may occur when the body’s cells do not function properly include dehydration, diabetic coma and damage to the eyes and kidneys. 

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is a condition in which women who have no prior diagnosis of diabetes begin to experience high glucose levels during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes occurs when the mother’s body does not produce the amount of insulin required to regulate blood glucose levels. Gestational diabetes has few symptoms, which includes delivery complications due to large babies, pre-eclampsia and increased risk of developing Type II diabetes after the baby is born.