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Basics Facts About Diabetes
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which blood
glucose levels are above normal. Most of the food we eat is turned into
glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas, an
organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help
glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your
body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as
well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood.
Diabetes can cause serious health
complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and
lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of
death in the United States.
For more information, see the National
Diabetes Information Clearinghouse publication, Your
Guide to Diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2.
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What are the symptoms of diabetes?
People who think they might have diabetes
must visit a physician for diagnosis. They might have SOME or NONE of
the following symptoms:
- Frequent urination
- Excessive thirst
- Unexplained weight loss
- Extreme hunger
- Sudden vision changes
- Tingling or numbness in hands or feet
- Feeling very tired much of the time
- Very dry skin
- Sores that are slow to heal
- More infections than usual.
Nausea, vomiting, or stomach pains may
accompany some of these symptoms in the abrupt onset of
insulin-dependent diabetes, now called type 1 diabetes.
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What are the types of diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes, which was
previously called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or
juvenile-onset diabetes, may account for 5% to 10% of all diagnosed
cases of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, which was previously called
non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes,
may account for about 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Gestational
diabetes is a type of diabetes that only pregnant women get. If not
treated, it can cause problems for mothers and babies. Gestational
diabetes develops in 2% to 5% of all pregnancies but usually disappears
when a pregnancy is over. Other specific types of diabetes
resulting from specific genetic syndromes, surgery, drugs, malnutrition,
infections, and other illnesses may account for 1% to 2% of all
diagnosed cases of diabetes.
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What are the risk factors for diabetes?
Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include
older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, prior history of
gestational diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, physical inactivity,
and race/ethnicity. African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans,
American Indians, and some Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are at
particularly high risk for type 2 diabetes.
Risk factors are less well defined for
type 1 diabetes than for type 2 diabetes, but autoimmune, genetic, and
environmental factors are involved in developing this type of diabetes.
Gestational diabetes occurs more
frequently in African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American
Indians, and people with a family history of diabetes than in other
groups. Obesity is also associated with higher risk. Women who have had
gestational diabetes are at increased risk for later developing type 2
diabetes. In some studies, nearly 40% of women with a history of
gestational diabetes developed diabetes in the future.
Other specific types of diabetes, which
may account for 1% to 2% of all diagnosed cases, result from specific
genetic syndromes, surgery, drugs, malnutrition, infections, and other
illnesses.
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What is the treatment for diabetes?
Healthy eating, physical activity, and
insulin injections are the basic therapies for type 1 diabetes. The
amount of insulin taken must be balanced with food intake and daily
activities. Blood glucose levels must be closely monitored through
frequent blood glucose testing.
Healthy eating, physical activity, and
blood glucose testing are the basic therapies for type 2 diabetes. In
addition, many people with type 2 diabetes require oral medication,
insulin, or both to control their blood glucose levels.
People with diabetes must take
responsibility for their day-to-day care, and keep blood glucose levels
from going too low or too high.
People with diabetes should see a health
care provider who will monitor their diabetes control and help them
learn to manage their diabetes. In addition, people with diabetes may
see endocrinologists, who may specialize in diabetes care;
ophthalmologists for eye examinations; podiatrists for routine foot
care; and dietitians and diabetes educators who teach the skills needed
for daily diabetes management.
The Diabetes
Overview fact sheet from the National Diabetes Information
Clearinghouse has additional information.
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What causes type 1 diabetes?
The causes of type 1 diabetes appear to
be much different than those for type 2 diabetes, though the exact
mechanisms for developing both diseases are unknown. The appearance of
type 1 diabetes is suspected to follow exposure to an
"environmental trigger," such as an unidentified virus,
stimulating an immune attack against the beta cells of the pancreas
(that produce insulin) in some genetically predisposed people.
For more information about the immune
system, visit these pages from The National Institute of Health’s (NIH)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Web site:
For more information on genetics and
disease, visit:
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Can diabetes be prevented?
A number of studies have shown that
regular physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of
developing type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes also appears to be
associated with obesity.
Researchers are making progress in
identifying the exact genetics and "triggers" that predispose
some individuals to develop type 1 diabetes, but prevention remains
elusive.
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Is there a cure for diabetes?
In response to the growing health burden
of diabetes, the diabetes community has three choices: prevent diabetes;
cure diabetes; and improve the quality of care of people with diabetes
to prevent devastating complications. All three approaches are actively
being pursued by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Both the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are involved in
prevention activities. The NIH is involved in research to cure both type
1 and type 2 diabetes, especially type 1. CDC focuses most of its
programs on being sure that the proven science is put into daily
practice for people with diabetes. The basic idea is that if all the
important research and science are not applied meaningfully in the daily
lives of people with diabetes, then the research is, in essence, wasted.
Several approaches to "cure"
diabetes are being pursued:
- Pancreas transplantation
- Islet cell transplantation (islet
cells produce insulin)
- Artificial pancreas development
- Genetic manipulation (fat or muscle
cells that don’t normally make insulin have a human insulin gene
inserted — then these "pseudo" islet cells are
transplanted into people with type 1 diabetes).
Each of these approaches still has a lot
of challenges, such as preventing immune rejection; finding an adequate
number of insulin cells; keeping cells alive; and others. But progress
is being made in all areas.
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* FAQ's Provided by the Official CDC
Website.
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