Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that affects the body’s ability to produce insulin. Without insulin, the body cannot get the energy it needs from food. Normally, a gland called the pancreas makes insulin – a hormone that carries the sugar in the blood into the cells. In a diabetic’s case, the pancreas fails to supply enough insulin, or the insulin doesn’t work properly.
There are two major types of diabetes: Type I, commonly called juvenile onset diabetes, and Type II, commonly called adult onset diabetes. Both have similar symptoms, but very different causes.
Type I Diabetes results from the body’s failure to produce insulin – the hormone that “unlocks” the cells of the body and allows glucose to enter and fuel them. It is estimated that 5-10% of people who are diagnosed with diabetes have Type I Diabetes. Type I Diabetes has no cure, but the outlook for people who have the disease is far better today than it was just 20 years ago.
Living with Type I Diabetes can still be a challenge, but improvements in patient education, blood sugar monitoring and insulin delivery have simplified the daily routine of managing the disease. Thanks to these and other advances, people with Type I Diabetes may now have life expectancies comparable to those of people without diabetes. The risk of disabling complications from Type I Diabetes has also been reduced.
Type II Diabetes is a chronic medical condition that affects the way your body metabolises blood glucose. Glucose is vital to your health because it’s your body’s main source of fuel.
Type II Diabetes develops when your body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin or when your pancreas produces some, but not enough, insulin to maintain a normal glucose level. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that regulates the absorption of sugar into your cells.
