Diabetes mellitus affects the body's ability to produce insulin, resulting in high blood sugar. Insulin changes blood sugar, or glucose, into energy to fuel the body's muscle and tissue. Serious health complications result from excess glucose including heart disease, nerve damage and blindness. According to 2007 data from the American Diabetes Association, 23. 6 million American's suffer from diabetes including children and adults. The association adds that 57 million Americans suffer from pre-diabetes, a condition whereby blood sugars are elevated, but not high enough to diagnose a person with diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes
Previously known as juvenile diabetes, type 1 is often diagnosed in childhood, though the disease can appear at any age, reports MayoClinic.com. Insulin production does not exist or ceases to exist. The body's immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. About five to 10 percent of diabetics are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Symptoms include excessive thirst, frequent urination, extreme hunger or fatigue and itchy skin. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International reports that a person with type 1 diabetes is dependent on insulin for the remainder of his life. Multiple insulin injections throughout the day, or the use of an insulin pump are essential. Blood sugar tests are also part of everyday required treatments. Though insulin regulates blood sugar levels, the treatment does not cure type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 Diabetes
The most common form of diabetes is type 2, reports the American Diabetes Association. The body develops type 2 diabetes when it no longer properly uses insulin, leading to high blood sugars; the condition is referred to as insulin resistance. The exact cause for insulin resistance is not known; however, obesity, genetics, poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle are risk factors to developing the disease. The elderly as well as minorities are at higher risk for being diagnosed with the disorder. Treatment goals include lowering and maintaining blood sugar levels through lifestyle changes.
Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes begins during pregnancy, often after the 28th week. The placenta produces a wide variety of hormones when a woman is pregnant, causing some women to develop insulin resistance. According to MedlinePlus, risk factors of developing gestational diabetes include being 25 or over when pregnant, family history of diabetes, and previous unexplained death of a newborn, or miscarriage. Giving birth to a previous child who weighed over nine pounds is also a risk factor to developing the condition. Often there are no symptoms, or the symptoms are mild. Generally a woman's blood sugar levels return to normal after giving birth.
