What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a group of diseases that affect how the body uses glucose. Around 30 million Americans have the disease, yet 7 million are undiagnosed. Diabetes is an endocrine disorder, which means the disease is about hormones, specifically insulin. Diabetes is when the pancreas doesn’t secrete enough of the hormone insulin, or the insulin made cannot be used by the body. Insulin is the key that gets glucose (sugars) into our cells so when there’s no insulin or it cannot be used sugars stay in the bloodstream and build up. The sugars that the cells use to fuel our bodies. So, people with unmanaged diabetes will often feel tired and sluggish because their cells aren’t getting fueled.
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder which means that the immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells/islets. In this condition, the pancreas secretes little to no insulin, leading to glucose building up in the bloodstream. Leaving blood sugar levels high can have dangerous effects on the body if left untreated over a long period of time for example neuropathy, eye disease, and heart disease can all start to become an issue if it's left untreated for a while. This disease is commonly diagnosed in adolescence, yet some adults do develop it. The cause of the autoimmune reaction is unknown, but it's known that your family’s genetic history, environment, and viruses can be a cause. Currently, there is no cure for the disease, but treatment focuses on controlling blood sugar levels with insulin therapy.
Type 2 diabetes
While both type 1 and type 2 diabetes involve insulin and the pancreas there are some differences. Type 2 diabetes is a disease where cells in the liver, muscles, and fat cannot use the insulin secreted by the pancreas, which is called insulin resistance. Since insulin is used to get fuel/sugar into the cells, sugar ends up staying in the bloodstream. The long-term health risks of this are very similar to type 1 diabetes. The cause of insulin resistance is unknown, but some researchers have shown that genes, obesity, and inactivity can cause insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed in adults over 45, but in recent years it's also been diagnosed in younger adults and kids. While in an early stage called prediabetes, where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes, it can be reversible within the said stage. Through losing weight and a healthy diet you can reverse prediabetes, but with type 2 diabetes it becomes harder. Only some people have reversed type 2 diabetes with weight loss; otherwise, there is no current cure. To manage diabetes people can monitor their blood sugar, take medication or insulin therapy, change their diet, and exercise.
Conclusion
While these illnesses can seem daunting many people are able to live a good life despite their complications. And while there is no current cure, people effected are able to use technology and medication to keep their blood sugars in range. Technology for those with diabetes will continue to improve in the future as well.
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