Diabetes- what you need to know

According to the CNN news channel, more than 57 million people have pre-diabetes, a condition warning of the development of type 2 diabetes. Globally, diabetes is one of the leading causes of premature death. According to the Journal of Diabetic Medicine, patients under the age of 50 with type 2 diabetes are three times more likely to die early than people without the disease.

Diabetes mellitus - the combined name for pre-diabetes, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes - is caused by the body failing to respond correctly to the hormone insulin. Insulin is responsible for regulating blood sugar, or blood glucose levels in the body. Without insulin (as in type 1 diabetes where the body's autoimmune system destroys insulin cells) cells and organs cannot take energy and fuel from food. This initially leads to weight loss, one of the first symptoms of diabetes.


Fluctuating blood sugar levels damage the body in many ways. Vision problems such as cataracts and glaucoma are directly linked to high blood sugar. Kidney problems also develop when the kidneys draw excess water from the blood to compensate for the lack of glucose that reaches the kidneys.

Type 2 diabetes is the most widespread form of diabetes and is classed as an epidemic. Caused primarily by obesity, type 2 diabetes can cause blood sugar levels to rise exponentially and patients can fall into a diabetic coma. Type 2 diabetes has hereditary links. Children whose mother suffered from gestational diabetes while pregnant are predisposed to developing type 2 diabetes, either as children or as young adults. The rise in childhood diabetes is possibly connected to the rise in gestational diabetes.

As diabetes becomes more widespread, doctors learn more about treatments to prevent serious side effects and help patients control the disease. Insulin replacement is the main form of treatment for diabetes. Insulin replacement, normally administered by the patient themselves via injection, can now be regulated using different forms of treatment such as drugs to prevent your body absorbing all the sugar from food or making the body more sensitive and responsive to the reduced levels of insulin it produces.

There is no way to prevent diabetes from developing as the exact cause of diabetes is unknown; however, keeping weight at a healthy BMI, regular exercise and having blood sugar levels assessed annually can help prevent and control diabetes.