What Is Diabetes?
March 25, 2007
Diabetes can actually be one of several metabolic disorders. The first definition comes from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) website:
Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal. 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 sugar to build up in your blood.
Diabetes can cause serious health complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
However, many people who manage their diabetes can live long and productive lives. New medications and diet controls can limit and slow the damage done by diabetes. Many diabetics survive well into old age.
