What is diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus, also known as just diabetes, is a metabolic condition that raises blood sugar levels. Insulin is a hormone that transports sugar from the blood into your cells where it can be stored or utilised as fuel. When you have diabetes, your body can’t use the insulin it does make or doesn’t produce enough of it.

Diabetes-related high blood sugar left untreated can harm your kidneys, nerves, eyes, and other organs. However, you can safeguard your health by learning about diabetes and taking measures to prevent or control it.

Types of diabetes

There are several varieties of diabetes:

• Type 1: Diabetes type 1 is an autoimmune condition. The immune system targets and kills insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Uncertainty surrounds the attack’s origin.
• Type 2: When your body gets resistant to insulin, type 2 diabetes develops and blood sugar levels rise. About 90% to 95%Trusted Source of people with diabetes have type 2, making it the most prevalent kind.
• Type 1.5: Latent autoimmune diabetes in adulthood is another name for type 1.5 diabetes (LADA). Like type 2 diabetes, it develops gradually during maturity. LADA is an autoimmune condition that cannot be controlled by a healthy diet or way of living.
• Diabetes gestational: Diabetes gestational is excessive blood sugar when pregnant. This form of diabetes is brought on by substances the placenta secretes that block insulin.

Despite having a similar name to diabetes mellitus, the uncommon illness known as diabetes insipidus is unrelated. Your kidneys are removed from your body too much fluid in a separate ailment. Each kind of diabetes has specific symptoms, underlying conditions, and therapies.

Prediabetes

When your blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the condition is known as prediabetes. It happens when your body’s cells don’t react to insulin as it should. Later on, type 2 diabetes may result from this.

According to experts, more than one in three Americans have prediabetes, but more than 80% of those individuals are completely unaware of their condition.

Symptoms of diabetes

The onset of diabetes is accompanied by blood sugar increases.

General symptoms

The symptoms of kinds 1, 2, and 1.5 (LADA) are identical, however they manifest more quickly than those of types 2 and 1.5. Type 2 usually has a slower onset. This diabetes is more likely to cause tingling nerves and slow-healing wounds.

Type 1 in particular, if untreated, can result in diabetic ketoacidosis. At this point, the body’s level of ketones is harmful. Although less typical in other forms of diabetes, it is nevertheless conceivable.

Diabetes’s typical signs and symptoms include:

• increased appetite
• heightened thirst
• slim down
• excessive urination
• hazy vision
• extreme exhaustion
• not-healing wounds

Men’s symptoms

Men with diabetes may have the following in addition to the typical symptoms:

• a reduced lust for life
• an erection problem
• weak physical capacity

Women’s symptoms

Diabetes symptoms in women might include:

• vulvar dryness
• infected urinary tract
• infected with yeast
• rough, dry skin

Gestational diabetes

The majority of women who develop gestational diabetes show no symptoms. When doing a routine oral glucose tolerance test or blood sugar test, which is often done between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy, medical professionals frequently find the issue.

A person with gestational diabetes may, in extremely rare circumstances, also feel increased thirst or urination.

Diabetes symptoms might be so subtle that they are first difficult to identify. Discover the symptoms that call for a visit to the doctor.

Causes of diabetes

Each form of diabetes has a unique set of reasons.

Diabetes type 1

Type 1 diabetes has an unknown specific cause, according to doctors. The immune system wrongly targets and kills insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas for some unknown cause.

Some people may be affected by their genes. Additionally, a virus may trigger an immune system attack.

Diabetes type 2

The cause of type 2 diabetes is a result of both hereditary and environmental factors. Your risk is further increased if you are overweight or obese. The effects of insulin on your blood sugar are resisted by your cells more when you are overweight, especially in the abdomen.

Families are prone to this condition. Family members have genes that increase their risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Diabetes of type 1.5

When your own antibodies attack your pancreas, you have type 1.5 autoimmunity. like kind 1. Although additional research is required, it might be inherited.

Gestational diabetes

Hormonal changes during pregnancy are the cause of gestational diabetes. The placenta secretes hormones that reduce the sensitivity of a pregnant person’s cells to the effects of insulin. Pregnancy-related elevated blood sugar can result from this.

Gestational diabetes is more likely to develop in people who are overweight before becoming pregnant or who put on too much weight while pregnant.

Diabetes complications

Your body’s organs and tissues are harmed by high blood sugar. Your risk of complications increases as your blood sugar level rises and as you live with it for a longer period of time.

Diabetes-related complications include:

• stroke, heart attack, and heart disease
• neuropathy
• nephropathy
• Retinopathy and reduced eyesight
• loss of hearing
• harm to the feet, such as infections and unhealed wounds
• skin problems include fungal and bacterial infections
• depression
• dementia

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes that is not treated might result in issues for both the mother and the unborn child. Baby-related complications can take the following forms:

• preterm delivery
• higher-than-average birth weight
• a later-life increase in the risk of type 2 diabetes
• low blood glucose
• jaundice
• stillbirth

A woman who has gestational diabetes during pregnancy runs the risk of getting type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure (preeclampsia). You can also need a C-section, often known as a caesarean delivery. Future pregnancies also have a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes.

Although diabetes can cause major medical issues, you can manage the disease with medication and a change in lifestyle.

REFERENCES:

• https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes
• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323627
• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20371444
• https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/7104-diabetes-mellitus-an-overview
• https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/types-of-diabetes-mellitus

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