Facts to Know About Diabetes
By Rebecca Jaiden at 5 April, 2009
First, we need to understand what diabetes is. A key factor in the disease has to do with the body’s production of insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas. Insulin enables the body to pick sugar out of the bloodstream and to get it inside the cells where it is used for energy or is stored.
However, if the body does not produce enough insulin, little of the sugar will get to the cells to produce energy or be stored. Instead, sugar builds to high levels in the blood and begins to cause problems. Simply put, that is diabetes.
There are different kinds of diabetes. One is called Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, or Type I diabetes. The problem here lies in the inability of the pancreas to make insulin. Recent evidence indicates that this type of diabetes may be caused, at least sometimes, by viral infections. The person with this type usually contracts it at a young age (under 30), is usually thin, and needs insulin shots to live.
Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, or Type II diabetes. It is often referred to as adult onset diabetes and is different from Type I. Here the problem is not that the pancreas makes no insulin but that it does not make enough. Much of the insulin it makes is soaked up by fat cells. The pancreas cannot make enough insulin to cope, and the blood sugar goes up. People with this type of diabetes are usually over 30, are overweight, and can sometimes get along without insulin shots. They also seem more likely to inherit their diabetes.
One needs to avoid two extremes of attitude. On the one hand, a person who has diabetes must avoid being careless about the problem, failing to follow sound medical direction, and perhaps hoping that the problem will go away. It will not.
On the other hand, since emotions cause erratic blood-sugar levels, it could be counterproductive to become overly worried about the problem. It will not help to be in constant fear and to be wrapped up in compulsive care of the diabetes to the exclusion of normal activities. Though the life of diabetics must necessarily be regulated, the vast majority can live well-structured lives.
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