Diabetes is a disorder that occurs when your blood sugar (blood glucose) reaches unusually high levels. Prolonged high levels of glucose can cause all manner of problems.

You either have Diabetes or you know someone who has it. Frankly, it’s a rampant disease in the United States, affecting great swaths of the population.

But despite the widespread nature of it, there is still a lot of ignorance surrounding that what, why, and how of the disease.

There’s good news when it comes to current diabetes research, but because we’re relatively ignorant of how the disease works, we’re not as excited as we should be.

That needs to change.

It’s time to understand diabetes and then take a look at all the thrilling things that are happening.

What Is Diabetes?

Before you can appreciate the significance of the new research, you need to understand a bit about diabetes.

Diabetes is a disorder that occurs when your blood sugar (blood glucose) reaches unusually high levels. Imagine a bunch of Snickers bars swimming around in your blood. While that’s not exactly how it works, you get the point. You’ve got too much glucose coursing through your system, which can cause serious issues.

Prolonged high levels of glucose can cause all manner of problems, such as:

• * Eye problems like glaucoma
  * Nerve damage
  * Heart disease
  * Kidney disease
  * Circulation issues
  * And much more

Diabetes is no joke. Approximately 30.3 million people in the United States are afflicted by the disease and another 84 million are in the prediabetes stage.

Thankfully, it’s a treatable disease, and there are specific steps you can take to both prevent and treat it. If you know what to do when you can wrestle glucose levels back under control and keep them there.

What’s The Difference Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes?

There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2. Simple enough.

Type 1 diabetes affects only 5 out of the 100 people who have the disease, and it’s caused by a person’s immune system attacking the cells that release insulin. When all insulin production is eliminated, cells can’t absorb glucose, which is what they use to produce energy.

Type 2 diabetes can occur at any age and usually happens during adulthood. A person afflicted with this type of diabetes can’t use insulin effectively or right away, which is called insulin resistance. If it continues to get worse, the pancreas gets weaker and weaker, unable to produce much insulin. This is an insulin deficiency.

For more information, click on the following links:

What Does Diabetes Do To The Body?
New Research That Could Change The Fight Against Diabetes
Reprogramming Skin Cells To Produce Insulin
Preventing Diabetes With Coffee
Determining What Causes Type 1 Diabetes
Identifying The Connection Between Stress and Type 2 Diabetes
The Development Of An Insulin Patch

Conclusion

Diabetes is a brutal disease that affections millions of people around the world. Yes, it can be effectively managed. No, it’s not typically a life-threatening disease (at least not immediately).

But it can cause significant health problems and requires constant vigilance to keep it in check.

As research continues, however, we should expect to see things improve. The future is bright for those afflicted by the disease.

And given that most people know someone with diabetes, that’s good news for all of us.

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