Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism—the way the body uses digested
food for energy. The digestive tract breaks down carbohydrates—sugars
and starches found in many foods—into glucose, a form of sugar that
enters the bloodstream. With the help of the hormone insulin, cells
throughout the body absorb glucose and use it for energy. Diabetes
develops when the body doesn’t make enough insulin or is not able to use
insulin effectively, or both.
Insulin is made in the pancreas, an organ located behind the stomach.
The pancreas contains clusters of cells called islets. Beta cells
within the islets make insulin and release it into the blood.
If beta cells don’t produce enough insulin, or the body doesn’t
respond to the insulin that is present, glucose builds up in the blood
instead of being absorbed by cells in the body, leading to prediabetes
or diabetes. Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose levels or
A1C levels—which reflect average blood glucose levels—are higher than
normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. In diabetes, the
body’s cells are starved of energy despite high blood glucose levels.
Over time, high blood glucose damages nerves and blood vessels,
leading to complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease,
blindness, dental disease, and amputations. Other complications of
diabetes may include increased susceptibility to other diseases, loss of
mobility with aging, depression, and pregnancy problems. No one is
certain what starts the processes that cause diabetes, but scientists
believe genes and environmental factors interact to cause diabetes in
most cases.The two main types of diabetes are type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. A third type, gestational diabetes, develops only during pregnancy. Other types of diabetes are caused by defects in specific genes, diseases of the pancreas, certain drugs or chemicals, infections, and other conditions. Some people show signs of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes
No comments:
Post a Comment