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Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Blood glucose is your main source of energy and comes from the food you eat. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps glucose from food get into your cells to be used for energy. Sometimes your body doesn't make enough - or any - insulin or doesn't use insulin well. Glucose then stays in your blood and doesn't reach your cells.

Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause health problems. Although diabetes has no cure, you can take steps to manage your diabetes and stay healthy.

Sometimes people have "borderline diabetes." This suggests that someone doesn't really have diabetes or has a less serious case, but every case of diabetes is serious.

What are the different types of diabetes?

The most common types of diabetes are type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes

If you have type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. Your immune system attacks and destroys the cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to stay alive.

Type 2 diabetes

If you have type 2 diabetes, your body does not make or use insulin well. You can develop type 2 diabetes at any age, even during childhood. However, this type of diabetes occurs most often in middle-aged and older people. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes.

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes develops in some women when they are pregnant. Most of the time, this type of diabetes goes away after the baby is born. However, if you've had gestational diabetes, you have a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Sometimes diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy is actually type 2 diabetes.

Other types of diabetes

Less common types include monogenic diabetes, which is an inherited form of diabetes, and cystic fibrosis-related diabetes.

How common is diabetes?

Diabetes currently affects more than 6.2 Crores Indians, which is more than 7.1% of the adult population. The average age of onset is 42.5 years. Nearly 10 lakh of Indians die due to diabetes every year.

Who is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes?

You are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you are age 45 or older, have a family history of diabetes, or are overweight. Physical inactivity, race, and certain health problems such as high blood pressure also affect your chance of developing type 2 diabetes. You are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you have prediabetes or had gestational diabetes when you were pregnant. Learn more about risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

What health problems can people with diabetes develop?

Over time, high blood glucose leads to problems such as

Symptoms & Causes of Diabetes

What are the symptoms of diabetes?

Symptoms of diabetes include

  • increased thirst and urination
  • increased hunger
  • fatigue
  • blurred vision
  • numbness or tingling in the feet or hands
  • sores that do not heal
  • unexplained weight loss

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes can start quickly, in a matter of weeks. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly - over the course of several years - and can be so mild that you might not even notice them. Many people with type 2 diabetes have no symptoms. Some people do not find out they have the disease until they have diabetes-related health problems, such as blurred vision or heart trouble.

What causes type 1 diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes occurs when your immune system, the body's system for fighting infection, attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Scientists think type 1 diabetes is caused by genes and environmental factors, such as viruses, that might trigger the disease.

What causes type 2 diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes - the most common form of diabetes - is caused by several factors, including lifestyle factors and genes.

Overweight, obesity, and physical inactivity

You are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you are not physically active and are overweight or obese. Extra weight sometimes causes insulin resistance and is common in people with type 2 diabetes. The location of body fat also makes a difference. Extra belly fat is linked to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and heart and blood vessel disease.

Insulin resistance

Type 2 diabetes usually begins with insulin resistance, a condition in which muscle, liver, and fat cells do not use insulin well. As a result, your body needs more insulin to help glucose enter cells. At first, the pancreas makes more insulin to keep up with the added demand. Over time, the pancreas can't make enough insulin, and blood glucose levels rise.

Genes and family history

As in type 1 diabetes, certain genes may make you more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The disease tends to run in families. Genes also can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by increasing a person's tendency to become overweight or obese.

What causes gestational diabetes?

Scientists believe gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy, is caused by the hormonal changes of pregnancy along with genetic and lifestyle factors.

Insulin resistance

Hormones produced by the placenta contribute to insulin resistance, which occurs in all women during late pregnancy. Most pregnant women can produce enough insulin to overcome insulin resistance, but some cannot. Gestational diabetes occurs when the pancreas can't make enough insulin.

As with type 2 diabetes, extra weight is linked to gestational diabetes. Women who are overweight or obese may already have insulin resistance when they become pregnant. Gaining too much weight during pregnancy may also be a factor.

Genes and family history

Having a family history of diabetes makes it more likely that a woman will develop gestational diabetes, which suggests that genes play a role.

What else can cause diabetes?

Genetic mutations, other diseases, damage to the pancreas, and certain medicines may also cause diabetes.

Genetic mutations

  • Monogenic diabetes is caused by mutations, or changes, in a single gene. These changes are usually passed through families, but sometimes the gene mutation happens on its own. Most of these gene mutations cause diabetes by making the pancreas less able to make insulin. The most common types of monogenic diabetes are neonatal diabetes and maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY). Neonatal diabetes occurs in the first 6 months of life. Doctors usually diagnose MODY during adolescence or early adulthood, but sometimes the disease is not diagnosed until later in life.
  • Cystic fibrosis produces thick mucus that causes scarring in the pancreas. This scarring can prevent the pancreas from making enough insulin.
  • Hemochromatosis causes the body to store too much iron. If the disease is not treated, iron can build up in and damage the pancreas and other organs.

Hormonal diseases

Some hormonal diseases cause the body to produce too much of certain hormones, which sometimes cause insulin resistance and diabetes.

Damage to or removal of the pancreas

Pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, and trauma can all harm the beta cells or make them less able to produce insulin, resulting in diabetes. If the damaged pancreas is removed, diabetes will occur due to the loss of the beta cells.

Medicines

Sometimes certain medicines can harm beta cells or disrupt the way insulin works. These include

  • niacin, a type of vitamin B3
  • certain types of diuretics, also called water pills
  • anti-seizure drugs
  • psychiatric drugs
  • drugs to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV )
  • pentamidine, a drug used to treat a type of pneumonia
  • glucocorticoids - medicines used to treat inflammatory illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, lupus, and ulcerative colitis
  • anti-rejection medicines, used to help stop the body from rejecting a transplanted organ

Statins, which are medicines to reduce LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels, can slightly increase the chance that you'll develop diabetes. However, statins help protect you from heart disease and stroke. For this reason, the strong benefits of taking statins outweigh the small chance that you could develop diabetes.

If you take any of these medicines and are concerned about their side effects, talk with your doctor.

Related Topics


A1C
Blood Sugar
Gestational Diabetes
Preventing Diabetes Problems
Diabetes in Children and Teens
Insulin, Medicines, & Other Diabetes Treatments
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes Diet, Eating, & Physical Activity
Diabetic Eye Disease
Diabetes and Foot Problems
Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke
Diabetic Kidney Disease
Diabetic Neuropathy
Hyperglycemia
Low Blood Glucose (Hypoglycemia)
Pancreatic Islet Transplantation
Pancreas Transplantation
Prediabetes

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