Are You Wondering What Exactly is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a condition brought about by the bodys inability to produce insulin or failure to respond to insulin properly. The major types of diabetes are Type 1 (commonly seen in the younger age groups), type 2 (common in the older age groups) and gestational diabetes (during pregnancy only). Among these three, type 2 diabetes is the most common and has the most number of cases worldwide. At present, the number of diabetes cases is increasing worldwide and threatens to reach pandemic proportions if not controlled.

The most common symptoms of diabetes are increased hunger, thirst and urine output. These are the usual reasons why someone goes to the Dr, this is particularly true in children. Maybe it is because it is easier to notice when a child is continually going to the bathroom.

Far less often people will also experience fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Blurring of vision and poor wound healing may also be indicative of errors in glucose metabolism. These last two usually occur after someone already knows they are diabetic.The poor wound healing can be a particular problem if you do any sort of job where you get incidental injuries which normally would be of no real consequence.

Diabetes is diagnosed by checking the levels of blood sugar. Random blood sugar (RBS), fasting blood sugar (FBS) and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) are the diagnostic methods of choice. Among these, OGTT is usually used to confirm the results of both FBS and RBS. A fourth way of checking the levels is glycosylated hemoglobin or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c).

Treatment for type 1 diabetes involved insulin injections, a diet tailored specifically for diabetics and adequate exercise. Type 2 diabetes is initially treated with exercise, weight reduction and proper diet. Oral medications are prescribed when the initial treatment fails to control the blood sugar levels. Insulin injections are added to the treatment regimen, if necessary.