 |
| |
 Contact
Us  Refer-this-site |
| |
- What is diabetes?
- Most of the
food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to
use for energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach,
makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells
of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't
make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it
should. This causes sugars to build up in your blood.
|
- What are the types & risk factors of diabetes?
- Type I Diabetes - Accounts for a smaller percentage of the
diagnosed cases. Risk factors are a little more undefined than
other types of diabetes, but include autoimmune, genetic, and
environmental factors.
_
Type II Diabetes - Accounts for a majority of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.
Risk factors include older age, obesity, genetics, prior history of gestational
diabetes, lack of physical activity, and race/ethnicity.
_
Gestational Diabetes - Occurs in a small percentage of pregnancies and usually
disappears after the pregnancy. Risk factors include woman with a family
history, obesity, and race/ethnicity.
_
- Can diabetes be prevented?
- A number of studies have shown that regular physical activity
can significantly reduce the risk of developing type II diabetes.
Type II diabetes also appears to be associated with obesity.
Researchers are making progress in identifying the exact genetics
and "triggers" that predispose some individuals to
develop type I diabetes, but prevention remains vague.
_
- Is there a cure for diabetes?
- In response to the growing health burden of diabetes, the diabetes
community has three choices: Prevent diabetes, cure diabetes,
and improve the quality of care of people with diabetes to prevent
devastating complications. The best "cure" right now is prevention;
however, several approaches are being pursued. Pancreas transplantation,
Islet cell transplantation, artificial pancreas development,
and genetic manipulation are some of the treatment options being
explored.
_
- What causes type I diabetes?
- The causes of type I diabetes appear to be much different than
those for type II diabetes, though the exact mechanisms for development
of both diseases are unknown. The appearance of type I diabetes
is suspected to follow exposure to an "environmental trigger," such
as an unidentified virus, stimulating an immune attack against
the beta cells of the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin,
in some genetically predisposed people.
|
|
|
