Diabetes is a disease that is caused by a set of metabolic dysfunctions in your body. Medically, this ailment is referred to as Diabetes mellitus.
Blood glucose is the main source of energy in the body that comes from the food we eat. Insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas, helps generate energy from the glucose. This energy is then used by the body cells. Diabetes occurs when there is inadequate insulin production, or the body cells stop responding properly to insulin. This discrepancy causes the glucose to remain in the blood, hindering the formation of energy.
High levels of glucose that remain in the bloodstream as blood sugar leads to several associated health problems over time, one of them being diabetes. An individual also can refer to blood sugar charts to maintain their blood sugar levels when suffering from diabetes.
Types of Diabetes
Diabetes has been categorized into 3 types.
Diabetes Blood Sugar Levels
Sweet carbohydrates, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen that are water soluble, are generally known as sugar. From the different kinds of sugars available in food, the one our body uses the most is called glucose. Even some other kinds of sugars that we consume like fructose from fruits are converted into glucose in our body.
Once the glucose has been extracted from the food, it makes its way into our bloodstream to be used by the body cells for energy and growth. But this glucose can only be absorbed by our body cells if insulin is present. After our meals, the pancreas starts producing insulin to move the glucose from the blood into cells. When insulin is produced in inadequate quantity, the blood glucose levels remain constantly high.
When the metabolism process malfunctions the glucose absorption does not takes place – the sugars remain in the body, and diabetes blood sugar levels remain high in the blood. This is why diabetes mellitus is classified as a metabolism disorder.
Symptoms and Signs
At the onset of this disease, the early symptoms to lookout for are:
Other symptoms include yeast infections, slow-healing sores or cuts, numbness in the feet, weight loss, and a feeling of nausea.
Clinical estimates show that almost 415 million people in the world are suffering from diabetes. One in eleven of the world’s adult population is living with this silent killer disease. This figure is expected to cross 642 million by the year 2040.
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