What Is Diabetes? -- An Introduction
Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the body cannot properly convert food into energy. Most food that a person eats is eventually broken down into blood glucose (also called blood sugar), which cells need for energy and growth. Insulin is a hormone that helps glucose enter cells. In people with diabetes, the body does not make enough insulin, or it does not respond to insulin properly. This causes glucose to build up in the blood instead of moving into the cells.
What Is Diabetes? -- Types of Diabetes
The most common type of diabetes is
type 2 diabetes (formerly called adult-onset diabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes). People can develop type 2 diabetes at any age, even in childhood. Other
diabetes types include:
What Is Diabetes? -- Symptoms
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- A need to urinate frequently
- Excessive thirst
- Weight loss
- Blurred vision
- Frequent infections
- Sores that do not heal.
However, some people with diabetes do not experience any symptoms.
What is Diabetes? -- Diagnosis
Diagnosing diabetes can be done with an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) or a fasting plasma glucose test (FPG). The fasting plasma glucose test is the preferred test for diagnosing diabetes. Research has shown that the oral glucose tolerance test is more sensitive than the fasting plasma glucose test for diagnosing diabetes, but it is less convenient to administer. Diagnosing diabetes in pregnant women (a condition called gestational diabetes) is based on plasma glucose values measured during the OGTT.
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