The Definition of Diabetes Articles | Diabetes

Diabetes is a condition that results when the human body fails to produce enough insulin or fails to make proper use of the insulin which is available. This situation will often result in problems because insulin is a rather essential hormone when it comes to the human body. Insulin performs many functions; it converts sugar, starches as well as other foods into the energy that we need in order to live and go about our daily chores. Diabetes is a big problem the world over; statistics have shown that over 20 million children and adults in the United States suffer from diabetes. Out of this number, over 6 million people are unaware of the fact that they have the condition.

What is the major cause of diabetes? Well, in reality no one knows the real cause of diabetes but there are a lot of factors which seem to contribute to the condition. The most common of all these factors is genetics. Obesity and lack of exercise, or a poor diet, are just some of the other factors which may lead to diabetes as well. Proof exists which supports the theory that lifestyle has a great impact on the likelihood of a person developing diabetes or not. Lifestyle can also have an immense impact on the rate of progress of your disease and how bad your symptoms are.

Different types of diabetes exist but there are two main classifications. Diabetes can either fall under a Type 1 or Type 2 classification. One condition known as gestational diabetes occurs in pregnant women and usually goes away as soon as the baby has been delivered. Despite this, the chance that the woman will contract diabetes much later in life increases greatly if she has experienced gestational diabetes. If you suspect that you have diabetes or pre-diabetes, your doctor can carry out some tests in order to ascertain if you are right. You will be given either a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). When you take the FPG, a reading between 100 and 125 mg/dl means you could have pre-diabetes. If you have a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher you are said to have diabetes.

In the OGTT test, you will need to fast and then drink a glucose-based drink. Two hours afterwards you will be tested. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, it is said you have pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, then you are said to have diabetes.

If the tests carried out on you prove that you have diabetes, the normal thing is for a doctor to order another test in order to verify and start you on a treatment plan. A large number of different treatment options exist for various people and these treatment options depend on the nature of the diabetes, the current state of health of the person involved, the severity of the disease as well as your past and present medical history. The sooner diabetes is detected and controlled, the better for the health of the person involved.