{"id":4741,"date":"2023-07-20T16:03:18","date_gmt":"2023-07-20T16:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globaldiabetesinitiatives.com\/?p=4741"},"modified":"2023-07-31T17:37:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T17:37:42","slug":"what-is-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globaldiabetesinitiatives.com\/what-is-diabetes\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Diabetes?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Image from pixabay by Stanias<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Diabetes, or scientifically diabetes mellitus, is one of the top ten causes of death and disability in the world. According to the latest <\/span>Lancet research<\/span><\/a>, over half a billion people in the world (529 million) currently live with diabetes. Sadly, that figure is predicted to rapidly go up to about 1\u00b731 billion by 2050. So, exactly what is this killer and disabling disease called diabetes?<\/span><\/p>\n

Diabetes is an enduring health condition that messes up your body\u2019s ability to convert the food you eat into the energy you need for your daily activities<\/b>. <\/span>As a result, the blood glucose levels in the body become elevated, triggering diabetes and a range of other health problems.
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Generally speaking, your body\u2019s inability to convert food into energy is just the tip of the iceberg. That\u2019s because there are several other issues underlying the glucose imbalance characteristic of diabetes.
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Since these issues can vary depending on the type of diabetes, we\u2019ll discuss them later in a section on the types of diabetes. So, let\u2019s focus first on what causes diabetes.
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What Causes Diabetes?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The <\/span>primary cause of diabetes is insulin deficiency and inefficiency<\/b>. In other words, people with diabetes have insulin production and function issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what is insulin?<\/span><\/p>\n

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. The core function of the hormone is to help your body convert the sugar sent to your blood from the food you consume into usable energy<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turning blood sugar into energy is a complex process. <\/span><\/p>\n

First, when you eat food, your body breaks it down and converts it into sugar or glucose. The sugar is then released into your bloodstream.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the sugar in the bloodstream exceeds normal levels, your body signals the pancreas to release insulin. The insulin sends the sugar to your body cells to use it as energy. <\/span><\/p>\n

We can simply this process in the diagram below.<\/span><\/p>\n

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If your pancreas can\u2019t produce or release the required amount of insulin to convert blood glucose into energy, the consequence is diabetes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Besides, the uncontrolled sugar level in the bloodstream is generally unhealthy and can trigger other serious health problems. We\u2019ll discuss these diabetes-related health problems later in the article.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before then, it is crucial to know that diabetes does not refer to a single health condition. Instead, the term describes several blood sugar-related conditions that count as types of diabetes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Types of Diabetes<\/b><\/h2>\n

Although most of us speak of diabetes as a single health condition, the term <\/span>diabetes refers to a group of health conditions caused by abnormally high glucose levels in the blood (high blood sugar)<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most common type of diabetes are: <\/span><\/p>\n