Diabetes - What is it?
Almost 30 million people in the United States alone have
diabetes, which is an astounding 7 percent of the population.
Nearly one third of all people with diabetes are unaware that
they have the disease. It is our goal to provide some
basic information about diabetes and so individuals with questions
about the disease can ask educated about the illness to their
physicians.
Diabetes is a disease in which the results in the body producing
a lack of insulin or produces it improperly. Insulin
is a hormone produced by the pancreas that is needed to convert
sugars and starches into vital energy needed for the body
to live. Although the cause of diabetes continues to be unknown
at this time, both environmental and genetic factors such
as lack of exercise and obesity play a role.
The two most common methods in which doctors and health care
providers can determine whether a patient has pre-diabetes
or diabetes is by conducting a Fasting Plasma
Glucose Test or an Oral
Glucose Tolerance Test
(often referred to as the FPG and OGTT tests). Either
test can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes, but
the FPG test is typically less costly, easier to perform,
and produces faster results.
With the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between
100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. A person with a fasting
blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes.
In the OGTT test, a person's blood glucose level is measured
after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage.
If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199
mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour
blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person
tested has diabetes.
Results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone
that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose
to enter and fuel them. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans
who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.
This is the most common type of diabetes that is diagnosed today.
This type affects diabetics by improperly using insulin the
body naturally produces, often referred to as “insulin
resistance”. The body still makes insulin, but cells
do not utilize it appropriately.
Gestational diabetes affects a small percentage all pregnant women – there are an estimated to be about 135,000 cases in the United States every year.
Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when a individual’s glucose levels are above normal but not high enough to be considered type 2 diabetes. Nearly twice as many people have pre-diabetes as those who have been diagnosed with diabetes.
