by: Gogi
Total views: 31
Word Count: 450
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 Time: 2:29 PM
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Sufferers with diabetes have a condition that creates a problem with how their body produces energy for food. Glucose from the food we eat is the body's primary source of energy. As the main source of fuel for the body, glucose must get to where it is needed but diabetes stops this process from happening. If this situation remains unchecked, levels of glucose in the blood increase to dangerous levels.

This subject has comprehensive information available on other sites and the information about the condition in this article has been made short to enable easy and quick understanding. Juvenile onset diabetes is called type one and usually, but not always, affects children and young adults and is where the body's production of insulin has ceased; this means insulin must be given to the diabetic on a daily basis for them to live. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that enables the body to use glucose to produce energy as it gets sugar into the cells. The second form of diabetes, type 2 or simply diabetes 2, usually affects people when they are of mature years; it results when the body either cannot produce enough insulin or does not use the insulin it makes properly.

Many of the foods we eat such as bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and fruit are converted into sugar and give us the energy we need to maintain life. Prolonged periods of high blood glucose levels can lead to problems like heart disease, kidney complaints, blindness and even limb amputations. However, it is possible to manage diabetes by maintaining a strict health regime; a number of the conditions will actually get better whilst others will be slowed down. Managing your condition means you must take control of certain areas of your life by ensuring you take your medication regularly; it is very important that you don't smoke and maintain your blood glucose levels, cholesterol and other blood fats within your target range.

In addition, weight and blood pressure will need to be routinely monitored and kept stable. Diabetes once recognized in the sufferer will be with them for the rest of their lives; there are currently over five and half million Americans who have been diagnosed with this, and the numbers are rising. Studies suggest that it is not the whole story as experts believe there are as many people again that have the disease that have not yet been diagnosed; around 600,000 US citizens contract this condition each year so you can see the problem is serious. It is believed that as many as 320,000 diabetics die each year in America whilst only 34,000 of those actually die directly from the condition itself.