Diabetes Overview

Diabetes is often mentioned as one of the major health problems in the United States. Current estimates show that 57 million Americans can be considered to be pre-diabetic. But for all the press it generates most people would probably not be able to explain exactly what diabetes is.

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The official name is Diabetes Mellitus with the second word derived from the Greek word for honey. In ancient times, physicians would test the urine of their patients by tasting it. For those with diabetes it tasted sweet. Thank goodness we’ve gotten away from that practice. Diabetes is the body’s inability to process and absorb the energy we get from the food we eat.

So how is it supposed to work normally? When you eat something it passes down your throat to your stomach where it is worked on by acids and enzymes and physically smashed to prepare it for the absorption of nutrients in the small intestine. The food energy absorbed is glucose. The pancreas secretes insulin, which will bind with the glucose to form a pair that is recognized by receptors on muscles and other tissues. Once a glucose-insulin pair lands in a receptor it is then absorbed into the muscle and used for energy.

In a diabetic state there is either not enough insulin being produced by the pancreas (type 1) or there is a problem with the receptors (type 2); they are either faulty or too few. Type 1 makes up about 5-10% of all cases and generally happens in children and young adults. Type 2 makes up the majority of cases, occurs mostly in adults and is attributed to a genetic predisposition or obesity. Either way, the end result is the same. The accumulation of glucose in the blood is an irritant to the body, which will try to get rid of it by causing frequent urination. Other symptoms include fatigue and blurry vision. Over time a chronically high blood sugar causes damage in the small blood vessels in the body found in the eyes, extremities and kidneys. Ensuing problems include blindness, kidney failure and decreased functioning of the nerves. The two most important factors in helping to prevent type 2 diabetes or manage it are diet and exercise. Diabetes is a big subject that will require many more blogposts to address. This explanation was designed to give you a brief overview of the normal processing of blood glucose and how diabetes is a disruption of that process.
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