What is Diabetes by Bijal Shah

Commonly referred to as the “slow killer,” diabetes has been affecting people’s lives for so many years. About 30 million people in the United States are diagnosed with diabetes. That is almost a tenth of the U.S. population! But what really is diabetes? Insulin is produced by your pancreas to get the glucose from your blood and transport it to your cells. Without insulin, all the glucose that is produced stays in our blood and never makes it to our cells. This results in blood sugar levels, which means we have diabetes.

There are many symptoms of diabetes. The most common ones are the need to urinate frequently, feeling very thirsty, and extreme fatigue. We may also feel very hungry all the time even if we eat. Other symptoms are blurry vision and slow-healing cuts and bruises. There are also other symptoms but they only occur with a certain type of diabetes.

There are two main types of diabetes-type one and type two. Type one diabetes is found mostly in children and young adults. Only five percent of the population is diagnosed with it. If we have type-one diabetes, it means that our body doesn’t produce any insulin at all. The specific symptom of type-one diabetes is weight loss. Unfortunately, type-one diabetes has no cure. The other type of diabetes is type-two diabetes. It is common mostly among adults. Type two diabetes means that the body is not using insulin properly. So slowly over time, the extra insulin runs out resulting in the blood-sugar levels rising. The specific symptom of this type of diabetes is pain or numbness in the hands or feet. Unfortunately, this doesn’t have a cure either, but if not treated properly it can be fatal.

There are three easy steps to preventing diabetes. First, eat healthily. If you do, then you’ll be in control of many factors. We’ll be in total control of your weight. We will also have lower blood pressure. That is useful when it comes to preventing diabetes. The final thing we will be in control of is our cholesterol level. But to do so, we must eat healthily. The next step is to get active. If we exercise for just an hour a day, we will be just fine. Also, try to do two hours of aerobics in a week. It can really help prevent type-two diabetes. The last step is to get our blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked starting at age 18. Try to get it checked once every two years. If you do, doctors will be able to tell you if you’re at risk of getting diabetes. With these easy steps, you won’t be at risk of getting diabetes.

As I said before, there are no cures for type-one or type-two diabetes, but there are medical researchers trying to find one. They are working on devices that can monitor blood sugar levels better. There are also other researchers trying to improve the delivery of insulin with implants in the body. Hopefully, in the future, we won’t have to worry about diabetes affecting our loved ones.

 
1.http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/type1and2/what.aspx

2.http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes/DS01121

3.http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/type-2/?loc=DropDownDB-type2

4.http://www.healthfinder.gov/HealthTopics/Category/health-conditions-and-diseases/diabetes/take-steps-to-prevent-type-2-diabetes#the-basics_1