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From: Diabetes
Clearinghouse a service of the NIDDK
What Diabetes Is
- Diabetes means that your blood glucose (often called blood
sugar) is too high. Your blood always has some glucose in it
because your body needs glucose for energy to keep you
going. But too much glucose in the blood isn't good for your
health. Glucose comes from the food you eat and is also made
in your liver and muscles. Your blood carries the glucose to
all the cells in your body. Insulin is a chemical (a
hormone) made by the pancreas. The pancreas releases insulin
into the blood. Insulin helps the glucose from food get into
your cells. If your body doesn't make enough insulin or if
the insulin doesn't work the way it should, glucose can't
get into your cells. It stays in your blood instead. Your
blood glucose level then gets too high, causing pre-diabetes
or diabetes.
What are the signs of diabetes?
The signs of diabetes [include] are being very thirsty,
urinating often, feeling very hungry or tired, losing weight
without trying, having sores that heal slowly, having dry,
itchy skin, losing the feeling in your feet or having
tingling in your feet, having blurry eyesight. You may have
had one or more of these signs before you found out you had
diabetes. Or you may have had no signs at all. A blood test
to check your glucose levels will show if you have
pre-diabetes or diabetes.
What is pre-diabetes? - Pre-diabetes is a condition in which
blood glucose levels are higher than normal but are not high
enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. People with pre-diabetes
are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes and for
heart disease and stroke. The good news is if you have
pre-diabetes, you can reduce your risk of getting diabetes.
With modest weight loss and moderate physical activity, you
can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes and even return to
normal glucose levels.
National Institutes of Health NIH
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/type1and2/what.htm#3
For More Information: National Diabetes Information
Clearinghouse
1 Information Way Bethesda, MD 20892–3560
Phone: 1–800–860–8747 Fax: 703–738–4929
Email: ndic@info.niddk.nih.gov NIDDK is part of NIH
The Health Library at Peninsula Center for the Blind and
Visually Impaired offers a free e-mail diabetes research
list; and a Diabetic Retinopathy pac of information.
Get more
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