For someone who has just been diagnosed the first question they want an answer
to is "what is diabetes?"
Diabetes is condition that affects the way your body metabolizes the glucose in
your bloodstream and turns it into the energy your body needs to function.
When your body is functioning normally, the pancreas releases insulin that
breaks down the glucose in your bloodstream.
This allows it to pass through the walls of your blood vessels into every cell
of your body where it is used as fuel.
If your pancreas is working normally it will automatically adjust the amount of insulin depending
on the level of sugar or glucose in your bloodstream. When you are a diabetic the sugar levels get
out of control because the pancreas is no longer able to produce enough insulin to control your
blood glucose
levels. There are four different types of diabetes each has their own causes and
while some of the treatments are the same they are all used with different results.
In answer to your question What is diabetes? let's first take a look at
pre-diabetes; here your body is already beginning to show the signs of diabetes without actually
being diabetic. The cells in your body are becoming insulin resistant or maybe your pancreas is
beginning to no longer produce sufficient insulin to control your blood glucose levels and as a
result they remain elevated, but are not above the threshold where it becomes truly
diabetic.
DiabetesType 1
is where your pancreas does not make any insulin whatsoever, this is also known as juvenile
diabetes as it occurs mostly in children although adults can be diagnosed with it. Cause for Type 1
diabetes are thought to be genetic or caused by a viral infection that causes the body's autoimmune
system actually attacking the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.
There is no cure for this type of
diabetes and you will have to use insulin therapy for the rest of your life. Type 2 diabetes or adult
onset diabetes is thought to be the result of a diet that is rich in processed foods, sugars and white flours.
Other causes can be genetic predisposition, obesity, a lack of exercise and age. It is the result of your body's
cells becoming insulin resistant and the pancreas being unable to produce enough insulin to compensate. You may
have to use insulin therapy, buy you can also bring your blood sugar levels under control with a good healthy
diet.
I have heard of gestational diabetes, what is it and are all pregnant women at risk for it?
Gestational diabetes only affects approximately 4% of women and usually appears in the second trimester. Those at
risk are women who are overweight, those who have had a stillbirth, those with a family history of diabetes and
those who have given birth to a baby the weighed over 9 pounds. Complications can affect your baby' growth and
development. Normally you can control gestational diabetes with diet and it will go away on its own after your baby
is born.
