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What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease in which levels of blood glucose, also called blood sugar, are above normal. People with diabetes have problems converting food to energy. Normally, after a meal, the body breaks food down into glucose, which the blood carries to cells throughout the body. Cells use insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas, to help them convert blood glucose into energy.

People develop diabetes because the pancreas does not make enough insulin or because the cells in the muscles, liver, and fat do not use insulin properly, or both. As a result, the amount of glucose in the blood increases while the cells are starved of energy. Over the years, high blood glucose, also called hyperglycemia, damages nerves and blood vessels, which can lead to complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, nerve problems, gum infections, and amputation.

Main Types of Diabetes

The two main types of diabetes are called type 1 and type 2. A third form of diabetes is called gestational diabetes.

• Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, is usually first diagnosed in children, teenagers, and young adults. In this form of diabetes, the pancreas no longer makes insulin because the body’s immune system has attacked and destroyed the pancreatic cells specialized to make insulin. These insulin-producing cells are called beta cells.
• Type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, is the most common form. People can develop type 2 diabetes at any age, even during childhood. This form of diabetes usually begins with insulin resistance, a condition in which muscle, liver, and fat cells do not use insulin properly. As a result, the body needs more insulin to help glucose enter cells to be used for energy. At first, the pancreas keeps up with the added demand by producing more insulin. In time, however, the pancreas loses its ability to secrete enough insulin in response to meals.
• Gestational diabetes is diabetes that first occurs during pregnancy. When women are pregnant, their need for insulin appears to increase, and many can develop gestational diabetes during the late stages of pregnancy. Although this form of diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born, a woman who has had it is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life.

For more information, see the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/diagnosis/