There are two types of diabetes. [tag]Type 2[/tag] diabetes generally sets in during adulthood and [tag]type 1[/tag] diabetes can occur even in children. Another type of [tag]diabetes[/tag], closely related to type 2 diabetes, is called gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is also known as juvenile diabetes, it can occur when the body’s own immune system turns against it. This happens when the body’s immune system actually destroys the beta cells that a person’s body creates in the pancreas.
An Overview of Diabetes
Diabetes is caused when there is instability in the hormone insulin in a person’s body. In a healthy person’s body, insulin is secreted by the pancreas in proper amounts for the amount of food the person has consumed. The main goal of this insulin is to help put certain nutrients, particularly glucose, into the body’s cells. The body cells then use these nutrients as fuel in a healthy person.
Then, the amount of glucose in the blood is lowered because the cells are full of nutrients. When this occurs, a person’s beta cells will be notified in the pancreas that they need to lower the amount of insulin secreted. This helps a person avoid hypoglycemia, also known as low blood sugar. However, in a person’s body that has type 1 diabetes, these beta cells are destroyed. When this occurs, it throws a person’s entire body into confusion. When a person has type 2 or gestational diabetes, however, the causes for it are different.
Type 1 Diabetes
Generally people afflicted with type 1 diabetes find themselves with this disease prior to age 20, it can however occur at any age. While this disease is somewhat uncommon, it does afflicted great many people. Unfortunately, no one knows what causes type 1 diabetes, at least not an exact cause. However it is obvious that at least general tendency toward this disease is inherited. There are also environmental factors that can make a person more prone to this disease. It seems to occur when something in the environment, perhaps a virus, causes a person’s immune system to attack the pancreas to the point where the person cannot produce insulin correctly. This seems to confuse the body and is not curable when it becomes type 1 diabetes.
The symptoms for all forms of diabetes can include many different things. Some of them are very unnoticeable others may make living a normal life difficult. Some of these symptoms include increased thirst, increased appetite even after eating, pain in the abdomen, nausea, unexplained weight loss, exhaustion, blurry vision, and urinating far more often than normal.
