The disorder diabetes mellitus, often just referred to as diabetes, is a disorder within the metabolism of the body. Remember that the metabolism of the body is the process in which the body digests the food eaten, and how the body uses this food for energy. The majority of the food consumed by people is broken down into sugar cells called glucose.
Glucose is one of the body”s blood sugars, and is the main energy source for the cells of the body. The entry of glucose into blood cells is the primary way the energy from the food we eat moves from our stomach into our cells. However, this process in controlled by the amount of insulin present. Insulin is produced in the Pancreas of the body and instructs the cells of the body on when to take in glucose. Insulin is released automatically from the brain when a person eats, and is the only hormone of the body to instruct the body to store glucose in the cells. Thus, the amount of sugar in the blood is directly controlled by the presence of insulin.
If a person suffers from diabetes, they will have an abnormal amount of sugar in the blood ” “ this is called hyperglycemia. There are two kinds of diabetes a person can suffer from, each with a unique cause for having too much sugar in the blood. A person suffers from Type 1 Diabetes when the body produces no insulin at all, and suffers from Type 2 Diabetes when the cells are not responding to the signals of insulin properly.
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes occurs as a result of the body having destroyed the beta cells of the pancreas. These beta cells are the cells that produce insulin, and without them the body has no means of providing insulin to itself. This is why diabetes is known as an autoimmune disease, because it has occurred after the body has destroyed a beneficial part at birth.
What this basically means is that a person with Type 1 Diabetes does not produce insulin, thus the body cannot regulate the sugar in the blood ” “ remember that too much sugar in the blood is toxic. The majority of these cases appear before the person in question is 40 years of age, which is why Type 1 is often known as Childhood or Juvenile Diabetes. While it is extremely rare to appear later in life, it is still possible for Type 1 Diabetes to appear after the age of 40. Approximately 15% of diabetes patients have Type 1.
Quite simply – a person with Diabetes Type 1 does not produce insulin. In the majority of cases this type of diabetes appears before the patient is 40 years old. That is why this type of diabetes is also known as Juvenile Diabetes or Childhood Diabetes. Diabetes Type 1 onset can appear after the age of 40, but it is extremely rare. About 15 per cent of all diabetes patients have Type 1.
Type 1 is not preventable, and does not occur as the result of life choices. Type 1 occurs naturally in the body, and is no means brought on by body size or health choices. The only method patients have to combat Type 1 is take insulin supplements. Typically these are injected subcutaneously into the body.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 Diabetes can occur as a result of two different problems in the body, and sometimes as a combination of both. The first issue is that the body is not producing enough insulin to begin with, and the second issue is that sometimes the body develops a resistance to insulin and this causes the insulin to not affect the sugar of the blood as much as it needs to in order to remain healthy.
Type 2 is the opposite of Type 1, and will occur directly because a person is overweight, unfit, and has been for some time. While this tends to occur later in life as the body begins to naturally break down, there has been a rampant trend of Type 2 occurring in patients in their 20’s due to the unhealthy eating and general contempt for being fit that many people have now.
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