What is Diabetes?

People have recognized diabetes for a very long time. The earliest know record of diabetes was in 1552 B.C. Up until the discovery of insulin in 1922, people with diabetes were pretty much treated with starvation. Diabetes patients could eat if they wanted, but that would result in coma and sooner death than if you had starved.

But what is diabetes? According to Prentice Hall Biology, diabetes (or diabetes mellitus) is,"When the pancreas fails to produce or properly use insulin, a condition known as diabetes mellitus occurs. In diabetes mellitus, the amount of glucose in the blood may rise so high that the kidneys actually excrete glucose into the urine. Very high blood glucose levels can damage almost every cell in the body" (1007). Glucose is the primary energy source of the human body and if there is to much glucose in the blood it can cause problems. A person who has diabetes has to check their blood sugar and give themselves insulin according to what their blood sugar is. Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas that absorbs much of the glucose in the blood.

There are two types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce any insulin at all. Type 2 occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the body does not use the insulin properly. Type 2 diabetes can be treated with eating right and exercising. But type 1 diabetes is controlled with insulin at every meal. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in younger people and that is why type 1 diabetes is sometimes called juvenile diabetes. Older people can also get type 1 diabetes, but type 2 is more common for older people. No one know how or why people get type 1 diabetes, but type 2 is cause by family history, obesity, or not being active enough. Type 2 diabetes is more common then type 1. About 10% of people with diabetes have type 1, while 90% have type 2.

Those who are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes have several severe symptoms. The symptoms are having to pee a lot, being ravenously hungry and thirsty, and, although eating and drinking a lot, losing weight. Another symptom could be always being in a bad mood.

I hope you have learned a little more about diabetes. If you want to learn more about diabetes or if you have been diagnosed with it and need encouragement a good website is www.nickssimplewins.com.



Works Cited

Miller and Levine. Prentice Hall Biology. New Jersey: Pearson Education. 2004. Print.

Nick's Simple Wins - Nick Jonas and Bayer Diabetes Care - Nick's Dog Tags. Web. 21 June 2010.