What Diabetes Is, How It Is Treated, and What You Can Do to Prevent It

Diabetes is the name for a medical condition in which too much glucose, or sugar, builds up in the blood. Diabetes develops when the body does not make enough of the hormone insulin or makes no insulin at all. It also can develop when the body is not able to use the insulin that is made.

There are two main kinds of diabetes: type one and type two. Type one diabetes generally affects children and young people. It results from a lack of insulin production. The exact cause is not known.

Signs of the disease may develop suddenly. People suffering from type one Diabetes may develop a strong desire for food or something to drink. Other signs are increased production of liquid wastes, loss of body weight, changes in eyesight and feeling extremely tired.

Most people with type two diabetes are overweight and need physical exercise. Their bodies cannot produce enough insulin to reduce glucose levels in their blood. Or their bodies do not react correctly to the insulin being produced.

Signs of type two diabetes are similar to those of type one. But experts say many people with type two diabetes have no signs. As a result, the disease may not be recognized until after the patient has already begun to develop medical problems.

Experts say genes seem to be important in the development of diabetes. They say that about ninety percent of those with type two diabetes have family members who also had the disease.


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