The general information on diabetes presented here is for the laymen, the generally uninformed (regarding diabetes), or for the recently diagnosed diabetic. General information on diabetes is helpful in guiding you towards more specific information geared towards your specific condition. This diabetes general information is not in any way intended to replace the advice of a doctor or other health specialist. It is only presented here to give an overview of diabetes that can teach you the basics and help you make good decisions on what to look for next.
General Information about Diabetes
People with diabetes either don’t make insulin at all, or make insulin in low amounts or in other ways that is not considered normal. The result is that the blood glucose level becomes too high.
Insulin is normally made in the pancreas and released to the bloodstream from there. Insulin is needed by the body to get the energy from the food you eat into the cells of the body to be used as energy. To do this, the food you eat is converted to glucose, which is basically sugar, and then sent to the different cells of the body. In order for the glucose to enter the cells, insulin is needed to “unlock” the cell and push the glucose into the cell. Insulin also stores extra glucose as glycogen in the liver, where it can be used at a later time. By pushing the glucose into the body’s cells, the sugar in the blood is lowered. The lack of insulin, or insulin not acting correctly, will cause sugar in the blood to rise.
General Information on Diabetes Types
Diabetes is either type 1 or type 2. Type 1 diabetes usually appears in the younger ages, and is life-threatening because insulin is either not present at all or in dangerously low amounts. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin because the pancreas is not making it.
Type 2 diabetes tends to appear in older people and can often be treated with diet or other lifestyle changes. Most type 2 diabetics are overweight and can be greatly helped with diet modification.
Both types of diabetes are usually first discovered by a doctor doing a routine urine test and finding sugar in the urine and high sugar levels in the blood. General diabetes information on both types of diabetes can usually be found in most medical facility waiting rooms.
General Information on Diabetes Symptoms
General information on diabetes symptoms follows below. Again it should be stressed that this is general information only and can in no way be a substitute for an actual doctor consultation with follow-up tests.
- Being extra thirsty
- Frequent urination
- More than normal fatigue
- Weight loss that’s unexplained
- Vision changes
- Injuries that don’t heal as quickly as they should
- Itching that is persistent without visible signs of hives or insect bites
The symptoms usually come on more rapidly in type 1 diabetes. Type 2 patients may have the symptoms come on so slowly they don’t notice, or may have none of the symptoms at all.
Hopefully this general information on diabetes will give you some talking points to discuss with your doctor, or to talk over with someone close to you. If you even think you may have diabetes, you should be tested right away.
