Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.

Diabetes often goes undiagnosed because many of its symptoms seem so harmless. Recent studies indicate that the early detection of diabetes symptoms and treatment can decrease the chance of developing the complications of diabetes.

Some diabetes symptoms include:
Frequent urination
Excessive thirst
Extreme hunger
Unusual weight loss
Increased fatigue
Irritability
Blurry vision

Type 1 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.
 
Type 2 diabetes- Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.

Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases in the United States each year.

Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. There are 41 million Americans who have pre-diabetes, in addition to the 20.8 million with diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome is also known as “insulin resistance syndrome” or “syndrome X.” It happens when someone has several disorders at the same time, such as obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. This affects how the body burns calories and uses insulin (which helps the body use or store glucose from food).

At least one in five overweight people has metabolic syndrome. They are at a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and early death. Doctors advise these patients to diet and exercise.

Researchers wanted to study the risk of death from metabolic syndrome, heart disease and other causes. They wanted to compare people who were normal weight, overweight, and obese. They also wanted to find out if a person’s fitness affects the risk of death.

In order to determine whether or not a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, In order to determine whether or not a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Either test can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform.

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.

More pills and types of insulin are available to control diabetes than ever before. There is also a broad range of drugs available to take care of problems like high blood pressure and high cholesterol that tend to go along with diabetes. New research is pointing the way toward new drugs and better ways to use the drugs we already have.

Metformin is a medication used to lower blood glucose levels for patients with diabetes. Another drug, pioglitazone, also is used to lower blood glucose levels. More studies were needed to find out if one drug worked as well as the other and if there were other benefits to either drug.

In studies on animals with kidney disease and diabetes, the drug ruboxistaurin has been shown to help improve kidney function. The researchers wanted to see if ruboxistaurin can help people with diabetes and kidney disease.

Some patients aren’t able to get their blood glucose to a healthy level by taking oral drugs to treat type 2 diabetes. The researchers wanted to see if adding another drug, exenatide, would help these patients.

Exenatide triggers insulin production after a meal, but only when blood glucose is high. Like insulin, it has to be injected.

Metformin and sulfonylureas are two of the most common types of diabetes drugs. Sulfonylureas spur the pancreas to produce more insulin, while metformin lowers the amount of glucose produced by the liver .

People with type 1 diabetes must take insulin to survive. When people with type 2 diabetes can’t get their blood glucose to a healthy level over time with diet, exercise, or pills, they are prescribed insulin. People with diabetes may have low blood glucose if their dose of insulin doesn't balance with their food or activity.

NPH insulin is an “intermediate-acting” insulin that is mixed with another substance so that the body absorbs the insulin over a period of time. NPH usually begins to work about 2 to 4 hours after being injected. It works strongest 4 to 10 hours after injection, and it keeps working for 10 to 16 hours. A shot of NPH in the evening keeps insulin in the body during the night and until the morning.

Insulin glargine is a “long-acting” insulin. It starts to lower blood glucose about 1 hour after injection and keeps working evenly for 24 hours.

Is it possible to delay or even prevent type 2 diabetes from ever developing? Yes it is. There is a lot you can do yourself to know your risks for pre-diabetes and to take action to prevent diabetes if you have, or are at risk for, pre-diabetes.

Is it possible to delay or even prevent type 2 diabetes from ever developing? Yes it is. There is a lot you can do yourself to know your risks for pre-diabetes and to take action to prevent diabetes if you have, or are at risk for, pre-diabetes.

Pre-diabetes
Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have "pre-diabetes" -- blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. There are 41 million people in the United States, ages 40 to 74, who have pre-diabetes.

Diabetes Risk Test
Take our diabetes risk test to see if you are at risk for developing diabetes. Diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. If you are a member of one of these ethnic groups, you need to pay special attention to this test.

How to prevent or delay diabetes
Pre-diabetes is a serious medical condition that can be treated. The good news is that the recently completed Diabetes Prevention Program study conclusively showed that people with pre-diabetes can prevent the development of type 2 diabetes by making changes in their diet and increasing their level of physical activity.

Inside the pancreas, beta cells make the hormone insulin. With each meal, beta cells release insulin to help the body use or store the blood glucose it gets from food. In people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas no longer makes insulin. The beta cells have been destroyed and they need insulin shots to use glucose from meals. People with type 2 diabetes make insulin, but their bodies don't respond well to it. Some people with type 2 diabetes need diabetes pills or insulin shots to help their bodies use glucose for energy. Insulin cannot be taken as a pill. The insulin would be broken down during digestion just like the protein in food. Insulin must be injected into the fat under your skin for it to get into your blood.

There are many different insulins for many different situations and lifestyles and there are more than 20 types of insulin sold in the United States. These insulins differ in how they are made, how they work in the body, and price. Insulin is made in labs to be identical to human insulin or it comes from animals (pigs). Future availability of animal insulin is uncertain.