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What Is Diabetes? |
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If you have just been diagnosed with diabetes you will have lots of questions about what diabetes is and what it all means. This page will give you an introduction to diabetes and there is a lot more information on other web-sites. One of the best of these is the Diabetes UK web-site, which we think most people will find very useful. You do not have to be a member of Diabetes UK to use the site, although you may find it very useful to join Diabetes UK (find out more).
Diabetes is a common problem and affects about 3 in every 100 people, adding up to around 1.4 million people in the UK. It is more correctly called Diabetes Mellitus but we usually just call it Diabetes.
Diabetes happens when the body cannot use sugar properly. Instead of being used in the body for energy, sugar (glucose) builds up in the blood stream. It is this sugar in the blood that causes tiredness and thirst and makes people with diabetes pass urine (water) more than usual. It also makes eyesight blurred and makes infections more likely, particularly skin boils and thrush. Blood sugar does not just come from sweet things that we eat, and people with untreated diabetes will have a high blood sugar even if they eat no sweet things.
There are two main types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2.
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Type 1 Diabetes |
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Type 1 diabetes used to be called insulin-dependent or juvenile-onset diabetes. It does usually come on before the age of 30 but it can happen at any age.
Type 1 diabetes happens when the pancreas, a small organ near the stomach, stops working. The pancreas normally makes insulin, which is a hormone (chemical) that helps the body use sugar. It does this by getting the sugar out of the blood and into the places where it is needed for energy such as the muscles and liver.
People with Type 1 diabetes must be treated with insulin for life. There are lots of different types of insulin and lots of pens (and pumps) for injecting it. The most basic way of injecting insulin is with a syringe and fine needle and you will be shown this method first. We can show you several different injection devices and discuss insulin types on a one-to-one basis: please discuss this with your diabetes doctor or specialist nurse. Researchers are developing new ways of giving insulin without having to inject it, but none of these are yet available.
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Type 2 Diabetes |
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Type 2 diabetes used to be called non insulin-dependent or maturity onset diabetes. It does usually come on after the age of 40 but can occur at any age although it is rare in children.
Type 2 diabetes is more likely to develop in people who:
Are overweight
Have a close relative with type 2 diabetes
Are of Afro-Caribbean or Asian origin
Had diabetes during pregnancy (Gestational diabetes) or had a very large baby
In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas still makes some insulin but the body's cells respond to it poorly (the so-called "insulin resistance" is increased). When the body stops responding to insulin the blood sugar goes up. This usually happens slowly so that the symptoms, like tiredness and thirst, come on gradually over months or years. Many people have very few or no symptoms and only find out something is wrong when they have a routine blood or urine test. There is no such thing as "mild" diabetes, even if there are no symptoms, as everyone with diabetes can develop complications of the condition.
For people who are overweight, losing weight is the most important treatment for diabetes. The body will respond better to insulin and blood sugar will drop. Physical exercise also helps the body respond to insulin.
There are several types of tablets for type 2 diabetes. Many people start off just on diet but later on need more and more tablets to keep their blood sugar down. This happens because type 2 diabetes gets worse over time as the cells in the pancreas which produce insulin wear out. Many people with type 2 diabetes will go on to need insulin by injection at some stage.
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