CONDITION CAN LEAD TO ORGAN FAILURE AND HEART ATTACKS
DIABETES is a serious condition where blood glucose is too high.
It occurs when the body fails to produce enough insulin, the insulin it produces is not effective – or no insulin is produced at all. There are two main types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2.
Sufferers of Type 1 – an autoimmune condition – cannot make any insulin.
In Type 2, insulin produced by the body either cannot work effectively or not enough is produced.
There are other types of diabetes, including gestational diabetes which some women develop during pregnancy.
In all types of diabetes, glucose cannot reach cells properly and builds up in blood.
Diabetes – whatever the sort – causes too much glucose in the blood. Glucose is produced when carbohydrates are broken down and released into the blood.
Insulin is made by the pancreas and allows glucose in the blood to enter cells and fuel our bodies.
For people without diabetes problems, the pancreas senses when glucose has entered the bloodstream and releases the right amount of insulin. In diabetics, this does not work. Symptoms include going to the toilet a lot, especially at night, being thirsty, feeling more tired than usual, losing weight and blurred vision.
Type 2 is the most common form and is now considered an epidemic.
It used to be known as “sugar diabetes” and is almost entirely caused by a poor diet, hence its link to obesity.
It is diagnosed with a test which measures the amount of blood sugar attached to haemoglobin – a protein in blood cells that carries oxygen in the body. A diabetes diagnosis is made with two readings of 48 or more over six months.
Recording a reading of 43 plus is considered pre-diabetes.
The condition can lead to dangerously high blood sugar levels which, over time, can damage organs and tissues in the body.
They can cause serious complications such as kidney failure, eye and foot problems, heart attacks and strokes.