What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal. People with diabetes have problems converting food to energy. After a meal, food is broken down into a sugar called glucose, which is carried by the blood to cells throughout the body. Cells use insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas, to help them convert blood glucose into energy.
People develop diabetes because the pancreas does not make enough insulin or because the cells in the muscles, liver, and fat do not use insulin properly, or both. As a result, the amount of glucose in the blood increases while the cells are starved of energy. Over the years, high blood glucose, also called hyperglycemia, damages nerves and blood vessels, which can lead to complications such as heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, blindness, nerve problems, gum infections, and amputation.
Types of Diabetes
The three main types of diabetes are type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes.
Type I
juvenile diabetes
insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
IDDM
Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, is usually first diagnosed in children, teenagers, or young adults. In this form of diabetes, the beta cells of the pancreas no longer make insulin because the body's immune system has attacked and destroyed them.
Type II
adult-onset diabetes
noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
NIDDM
Type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, is the most common form. People can develop it at any age, even during childhood. This form of diabetes usually begins with insulin resistance, a condition in which muscle, liver, and fat cells do not use insulin properly. At first, the pancreas keeps up with the added demand by producing more insulin. In time, however, it loses the ability to secrete enough insulin in response to meals.
Gestational diabetes develops in some women during the late stages of pregnancy. Although this form of diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born, a woman who has had it is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life. Gestational diabetes is caused by the hormones of pregnancy or by a shortage of insulin.
Type 2 diabetes, often called non-insulin dependant diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes, affecting 90% - 95% of the 18.2 million people with diabetes.
Unlike In type 1 diabetes, people with type 2 diabetes produce insulin; however, the insulin their pancreas secretes is either not enough or the body is unable to recognize the insulin and use it properly. This is called insulin-resistance. When there isn't enough insulin or the insulin is not used as it should be, glucose (sugar) can't get into the body's cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, the body's cells are not able to function properly.
Type 2 diabetes occurs in two ways:
1. The body does not produce enough insulin, or
2. The cells ignore the insulin.
Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar. Sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can cause two problem
Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent diabetes) is different. In contrast to someone with type 1 diabetes, someone with type 2 diabetes still produces insulin. But the body doesn't respond to the insulin normally. Glucose is less able to enter the cells and do its job of supplying energy (doctors call this insulin resistance). This causes the blood sugar level to rise, making the pancreas produce even more insulin. Eventually, the pancreas can wear out from working overtime to produce extra insulin. Then, the pancreas may no longer be able to produce enough insulin to keep a person's blood sugar levels within a normal range.
People with insulin resistance may or may not develop type 2 diabetes — it all depends on whether the pancreas can produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels normal. Repeatedly high blood sugar levels are a sign that a person has developed diabetes.
Children and teens with type 2 diabetes use diet, exercise, and medicines that improve the body's response to insulin to control their blood sugar levels. Sometimes kids and teens with type 2 diabetes may need to take insulin shots or use an insulin pump, too.
Individuals with type 2 diabetes most often may be characterized as:
. Being insulin resistant (about nine out of 10 patients have insulin resistance);
. Being obese (about 50 percent of men and 70 percent of women who have diabetes are obese);
. Having a lifestyle that does not involve significant physical activity;
. Having low HDL ("good") cholesterol levels and high triglyceride levels; and
. Having an increased prevalence of high blood pressure.
Insulin Resistance
Someone with type 2 diabetes still produces insulin, but the body just doesn't respond to insulin normally and the person's pancreas isn't able to make enough extra insulin to overcome this insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance occurs when the body doesn't respond as well to the insulin that the pancreas is making and glucose is less able to enter the cells. People with insulin resistance may or may not go on to develop type 2 diabetes.
Insulin resistance occurs when the body can't use insulin efficiently. To compensate, the pancreas releases more and more insulin to try to keep blood sugar levels normal. Gradually, the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas become defective and ultimately decrease in total number. As a result, blood sugar levels begin to rise, causing full-blown diabetes to develop.
This is why insulin resistance is considered a core metabolic dysfunction of type 2 diabetes. More than 60 million Americans have insulin resistance. One in four develop type 2 diabetes.
Hyperglycemia (too much glucose in the blood) and hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin in the blood) in a fasting individual indicates a person may have insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance is a core metabolic dysfunction associated with type 2 diabetes and an increased risk for heart disease and stroke. Insulin resistance is associated with blood lipid imbalances, such as an increased ratio of small low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad" cholesterol), low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good" cholesterol), and increased levels of triglycerides, which cause atherosclerosis.
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes vary from person to person but may include:
Increased thirst
Increased hunger (especially after eating)
Dry mouth
Nausea and occasionally vomiting
Frequent urination
Fatigue (weak, tired feeling)
Blurred vision
Numbness or tingling of the hands or feet
Frequent infections of the skin, urinary tract or vagina
NOW WE NEED TO KNOW WHAST CAUSES INSULIN RESISTANCE?
SO FAR THE STUDIES INDICATE THAT OBESITY IS ONE OF THE LEADING REASONS FOR IT.
WHEN A PERSON IS OBESE (FATTY) THE CHOLESTEROL LAVELS IN THE BLOOD START RISING PETICULERLY LOW DENSITY LIPID & TRIGLYSERIDES ( THESE ARE BAD OR HARMFUL CHOLESTEROLS IN THE BLOOD ) WHERAS THE GOOD CHOLESTEROL HDL HIGH DENSITY LIPID GO ON REDUCING THIS IMPAIRMENT IN THE BLOOD CAN CAUSE INSULIN RESISTANSE LEADING TO TYPE II DIABETES. WHEN BODY IS NOT RECOGNISING & ACCEPTING INSULIN & SUGER LAVEL IN BLOOD GOES HIGH THEN PANCREAS PRODUCE MORE INSULIN & GRADUALLY DUE TO THIS PRESSURE PANCREAS START PRODUCING LESS INSULIN.
BECAUSE OF THIS CONDITION IN MOST OF THE TYPE II DIABETES PATIENT; INSULIN SHOTS DON’T WORK BUT RATHER MAY DETORIATE THE CONDITION.