<<<>>> Diabetes, also referred to as diabetes mellitus, is described as a lifelong disease that indicates that there is something wrong with your body’s metabolism. What usually happens when we eat food is that this is turned into glucose or blood sugar and this becomes responsible for giving us energy. For the glucose to be used by our body, it has to get into our cells with the help of the hormone insulin. If you have diabetes, your pancreas does not produce enough insulin or your body’s cells do not react correctly to the insulin. The glucose then does not get turned into energy and is thus released via urine.

Three types of diabetes exist: type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is also called insulin-dependent diabetes and is a situation where no insulin is produced by the body. Because you are insulin-dependent, you need to take regular insulin-injections, go through regular blood tests, and adhere to a special diet. Type 2 diabetes, the more common type found all over the world, is where the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells are insulin resistant. This is typically connected to old age, overweight and obese people, those who have a family history of diabetes or who have a previous history of gestational diabetes, and being physically inactive, to name a few. Type 2 diabetes, however, will progress and get worse to the point where the affected person will need to take insulin. When diabetes is diagnosed during pregnancy, this is considered gestational diabetes. The usual symptoms may not be present but this is typically caused by pregnancy hormones or shortage of insulin.

Diabetes, although not contagious, afflicts both genders, adults, children, and certain ethnicities. It is also one of the leading causes of death and disability. Certain complications also arise when you have diabetes like blindness, heart and blood vessel diseases, stroke, kidney failure, amputations, and nerve damage. Pregnant women who are diagnosed with gestational diabetes can also have complicated pregnancies and can have babies with birth defects. Among the symptoms to watch out for are: frequent urination, disproportionate thirst, intense hunger, weight gain, unusual weight loss, increased fatigue, irritability, blurred vision, cuts and bruises not healing properly or quickly, more skin and/or yeast infections, itchy skin, gums are red and/or swollen or gums pull away from teeth, frequent gum disease/infection, erectile dysfunction among men, and numbness or tingling, especially in your feet and hands. Learn how to safely prevent diabetes here at
http://www.ehow.com/how_2048513_prevent-diabetes.html.