Diabetes

The important steps to managing your blood sugar is to understand what makes the blood sugar levels rise frequently.

• Glucose: The carbohydrates and sugars in what you eat and drink turns into glucose (sugar) in the stomach and digestive system. Glucose can then enter the bloodstream.

• Insulin: Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas that helps the body’s cells take up glucose from blood and lower blood sugar levels.

In Type 2 diabetes, glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells because:

• The body develops “insulin resistance” and can’t use the insulin it makes efficiently.

• The pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce insulin.

The result can be a high blood glucose level.

Type 2 diabetes usually will develop gradually over the course of the years, beginning when muscle and other cells stop responding to insulin. This condition is known as insulin resistance, which causes blood sugar and insulin levels to stay elevated long after eating. Over time, the heavy demands made on the insulin-making cells wears them out, and insulin production eventually comes to an end.

Symptoms

The symptoms of diabetes depends on how elevated your blood sugar is. Some people, more particularly, if they have pre diabetes or especially type 2 diabetes, may not show any type of symptoms. In type 1 diabetes, the symptoms tend to be more severe in most cases if not monitored properly. Some of the symptoms of type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are:

• More thirsty than usual.
• Urinating increase.
• Losing weight without trying.
• Presence of ketones in the urine. Ketones are a byproduct of the breakdown of muscle and fat that happens when there’s not enough available insulin.
• Feeling weak.
• Feeling tired.
• Mood changes.
• Having blurry vision.
• Having slow-healing sores.
• Getting a lot of infections, such as gum, skin and vaginal infections.

Type 1 diabetes can start at any age. But it often starts during childhood or teen years. Type 2 diabetes, the more common type, can develop at any age. Type 2 diabetes is more common in people older than 40.