What is diabetes?

      As most of you know by now, I was recently diagnosed as a diabetic. This has caused radical changes in my life beyond what I ever imagined. I also discovered that I knew next to nothing about diabetes and a lot of what I thought I knew was wrong. I thought I'd start a series of posts to share what I've learned about this dangerous disease that afflicts more than 21 million people in the United States today.
      Diabetes has plagued mankind for millennia. Our earliest known record of diabetes may be by physician Hesy-Ra in 1552 B.C. on Third Dynasty Egyptian papyrus who described a disease with similar symptoms to diabetes. The first known use of the word 'diabetes' was in the late 2nd Century B.C. by Demetrios of Apameia. Historical references to diabetes abound. It is not a new disease.
      But what is diabetes? When you have diabetes, either your body isn't making enough insulin or the insulin you have isn't working the way it should. If your body isn't making insulin, you are what they call a Type 1 diabetic (once known as juvenile-onset diabetes). If your insulin isn't working the way it should, you are a Type 2 diabetic. Type 2 diabetics can also not make enough insulin. (I am a Type 2 diabetic. My insulin doesn't work properly. I also have decreased production of insulin, but the levels haven't fallen to the point that I need to take insulin shots. More on this later in the series.)
      Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas, a body organ that sits behind the stomach. Insulin works like this: Most food is broken down in your body into a form of sugar known as glucose. Glucose is the body's main source of energy. As glucose enters the bloodstream, the amount of sugar in the blood rises. Normally this rise in blood sugar signals your body to have the pancreas release insulin into the bloodstream. Insulin helps the cells of your body absorb the sugar. The cells can use the sugar immediately or store it for use later on.
      In a diabetic, this system breaks down. Your body doesn't make any or enough insulin or your insulin doesn't work the way it should. Either way, sugar can't get into your body's cells. The sugar stays trapped in your bloodstream. Your sugar levels rise to abnormally high amounts. As your blood sugar level rises, your kidneys attempt to get rid of the excess sugar by increasing urination. However, your kidneys can't get rid of enough of it.
      Carried by your blood, the abnormally high sugar damages your entire body. Untreated diabetes can cause or contribute to: neuropathy (nerve damage), cataracts, glaucoma, retinopathy, blindness, high blood pressure, poor blood circulation, heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, periodontal disease, liver disease, sexual dysfunction, bladder disease, and blood infections, as well as making the diabetic more susceptible to other illnesses, such as pneumonia and influenza. Also, untreated diabetics heal slowly, and due to neuropathy, they are often unaware they have suffered a minor wound until it becomes gangrenous. This can lead to amputation of limbs.
      It's no wonder that diabetes was a death sentence before the production of commercial insulin in the early 1920's. Even today, it's still among the six leading causes of death in the United States.
      Next time we'll discuss the symptoms of diabetes.

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. For individual health care questions, consult your doctor. For more information about diabetes, visit the website for the American Diabetes Association.