Pre-diabetes - Borderline diabetes - What is it?

So... what IS pre-diabetes and can prediabetes affect me?  Prediabetes is when glucose levels are higher than the norm but not high enough to be considered as being diabetes.  As with type 2 diabetes, with pre-diabetes, the body produces insulin but is not effective enough to combat the glucose in the bloodstream.  Pre-diabetes is in fact a precursor to type 2 diabetes, as well as being a risk of heart disease. Consider this as a warning to avoid type 2 diabetes.

Pre-diabetes is also known under the following terms:

• Borderline diabetes
• Non-diabetic hyperglycaemia (NDH).
• Impaired glucose regulation (IGR)
• Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)
• Impaired fasting glucose (IFG)

Type 2 diabetes - Diabetes and - Tablets - Symptoms of type 2

What exactly IS type 2 diabetes? Could I become a type 2 diabetic? Is diabetes type 2 different from type 1 diabetes, and why?

Diabetes type 2. This condition is different from type 1 diabetes and accounts for around 85% & 95% of the population of diabetics and could be avoided by many people with simple diet and exercise regime.  It is most prevalent in people over 40 years of age in the white population and over 25 years of age in the black and South Asian population. 

Type 2 diabetics either do not produce enough insulin or the insulin does not work as it should (insulin resistance) possibly due to being overweight, as fat can hinder the process, although type 2 can be found in people without a weight problem.

Carbs are broken down into glucose and goes into the bloodstream as with type 1 but there is also insulin present as well.  However, some of the insulin fails to get into the cells as they are furred up with fatty deposits and the glucose stays in the bloodstream and raises blood glucose levels as with type 1.

The difference is that in type 2, the pancreas releases more insulin so it continues to rise as does the glucose level.  By now, the cells are desperate for energy and they get the liver to release emergency stores of glucose. The glucose and insulin production continue to rise until the insulin production eventually gives up.

To summarize

The symptoms of Type 2 diabetes are:

• Excessive thirst
Frequent urination
• Thrush or genital itching
• Blurred vision
• Tiredness
• Weight loss
• Slow healing

Although much more slowly than type 1 and people often do not realise that they have Type 2 diabetes and this can take up to 10 years before they are actually diagnosed with it.

Type 2 can initially be treated with a simple change of diet and increased exercise to lose any excess weight, however, type 2 is progressive and some form of medication (tablets and/or insulin) is often needed as time goes by.

Type 2 is increasing at an alarming rate in younger people, as we over eat in today’s fast food culture

Type 1 diabetes - Diabetes and - Insulin - Symptoms of type 1

What exactly IS type 1 diabetes?  Do I have diabetes type 1? We have all heard of it, so what exactly IS type 1 diabetes?

Diabetes type 1 is the condition where the person can no longer produce insulin for themselves.  This is an autoimmune response, where the body has destroyed the insulin producing cells in the pancreas.

Type 1 Diabetes is commonly found in people under the age of 40 years and used to be known as 'Juvenile diabetes' as type 1 is most common in childhood. It also accounts for between 5% & 15% of diabetes.

Unlike the non diabetic, the stomach breaks down the carbs into glucose and goes into the bloodstream but as there is no insulin produced to let it into the body cells at all, the glucose stays in the bloodstream and blood glucose levels are raised significantly.

The body tries to get rid of the excess glucose by expelling in through the kidneys, and also water, which is why the undiagnosed diabetic frequently visits the toilet to urinate and drinks more liquids than usual to replace the fluid loss. This can be quite a sever thirst (this can also happen if you forget your insulin after a meal) this excess glucose can cause bacteria to form in the genital areas and can cause thrush and itching.

There is also excess glucose in the bloodstream, which can lead to slow healing of cuts and scrapes due to the bacteria contained in the blood, which is why we need to take precautions when we hurt ourselves. This can also affect our eyes and give blurred vision and tiredness.  There may also be weight loss due to the body breaking down its own fat stores, as the body still needs energy.

So to summarise, the symptoms of Type 1 diabetes are:

Excessive thirst

Frequent urination

Thrush or genital itching

Blurred vision

Tiredness

Weight loss

Slow healing

It is not known for sure just why the insulin producing cells stop working in the type 1 diabetic but it is thought that the body has an abnormal reaction to these cells.  This is widely thought to be triggered by either a virus or other types of infection.

Hereditary Diabetes

Unlike type 2 diabetes, where your chances of developing the condition are greatly increased by eating unhealthily, being overweight and lack of exercise.  Type 2 can be avoided if you change to a healthy lifestyle.

There are risk factors that you may develop type 1 diabetes if any of your parents already have it. Below is a table showing these risks.

  

Neither parent	√	1 in 250 chance
Mother	√	1 in 50-100 chance
Father	√	1 in 20 chance
Sibling	√	1 in 15-30 chance
Sibling + 1 Parent	√	1 in 10 chance

What is Diabetes?

Okay!... I think that almost all of us have all heard of diabetes (being on a diabetes website)... but what exactly IS  diabetes and what of types 1 & 2 diabetes? Why are there different types of diabetes, such as the one in pregnancy? Most importantly, will you end up with either of these types of diabetes yourself? 

What exactly is diabetes, how does it happen and can I catch it?Here is a short rundown to help you to understand diabetes.

Our body cells need nutrients to survive.  These nutrients come in the following form

• Proteins - which are essential for growth and repair of muscle and other body tissue.
• Fats - these are one source of energy and important in relation to fat soluble vitamins
• Carbohydrates - this is our main source of energy
• Minerals - these are inorganic elements occurring in the body and which are critical to its normal functions
• Vitamins - are water and fat soluble vitamins that play important roles in many chemical processes within our bodies
• Water - this is essential to normal body function - as a vehicle for carrying other nutrients and because 60% of the human body is water
• Roughage - this is the fibrous indigestible portion of our diet and is essential to the health of the digestive system
  
  
  Click the link to watch a video and understand more about diabetes.
  
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sTgBvJsHcCk