Related topics: type 2 diabetes , type 1 diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
hideDiabetes mellitus (pronounced /ˌdaɪ.əˈbiːtiːz/ or /ˌdaɪ.əˈbiːtɨs/; /mɨˈlaɪtəs/ or /ˈmɛlɨtəs/)—often referred to simply as diabetes—is a disease in which the body does not produce enough, or properly respond to, insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Insulin is needed to turn sugar and other food into energy. In diabetes, the body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should, or both. This causes sugar to accumulate in the blood, often leading to various complications. The American Diabetes Association reported in 2009 that there are 23.6 million children and adults in the United States—7.8% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 17.9 million in the US alone have been diagnosed with diabetes, nearly one in four (5.7 million) diabetics are unaware that they have the disease.
Many types of diabetes are recognized: The principal three are:
All forms of diabetes have been treatable since insulin became medically available in 1921, but there is no cure for the common types except a pancreas transplant, although gestational diabetes usually resolves after delivery. Diabetes and its treatments can cause many complications. Acute complications including hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, or nonketotic hyperosmolar coma may occur if the disease is not adequately controlled. Serious long-term complications include cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, retinal damage, which can lead to blindness, several types of nerve damage, and microvascular damage, which may cause erectile dysfunction and poor wound healing. Poor healing of wounds, particularly of the feet, can lead to gangrene, and possibly to amputation. Adequate treatment of diabetes, as well as increased emphasis on blood pressure control and lifestyle factors such as not smoking and maintaining a healthy body weight, may improve the risk profile of most of the chronic complications. In the developed world, diabetes is the most significant cause of adult blindness in the non-elderly and the leading cause of non-traumatic amputation in adults, and diabetic nephropathy is the main illness requiring renal dialysis in the United States.
For more information about Diabetes mellitus, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with diabetes
GE Scientists Developing Wearable RFID Sensors to Detect Airborne Chemical Agents
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
5 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
GE Global Research, the technology development arm for the General Electric, today announced a $2 million award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to develop wearable RFID sensors ...
An atomic-level look at an HIV accomplice
Nov 19, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Since the discovery in 2007 that a component of human semen called SEVI boosts infectivity of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have been trying to learn more about SEVI and how it works, in hopes of ...
US survey shows southern counties most obese
Nov 19, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
(AP) -- The first county-by-county survey of obesity reflects past studies that show the rate of obesity is highest in the Southeast and Appalachia.
Is type 2 diabetes mellitus a risk factor for gallbladder, biliary and pancreatic cancer?
Nov 19, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
There are minimal data assessing the relationship between diabetes with gallbladder, biliary and pancreatic cancer. Recent small studies have suggested an elevated risk of pancreatic cancer only in patients with diabetes ...
Good news on multiple sclerosis and pregnancy
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 18, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
There is good news for women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant. A new study shows that pregnant women with multiple sclerosis are only slightly more likely to have cesarean ...
New Test May Predict Heart Disease Events and the Effect of Weight Loss on Insulin Resistance
Nov 17, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemical fingerprints produced by the body's normal metabolic processes predict who will suffer cardiovascular events and who will benefit from weight loss by reduction of insulin resistance, according two ...
Drug therapy more cost-effective than angioplasty for diabetic patients with heart disease
Nov 17, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Many patients with diabetes should forego angioplasties for heart disease and just take medicine instead, according to a new National Institutes of Health study led by Stanford University School of Medicine researcher Mark ...
Thoughtful words help couples stay fighting fit
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 13, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (2) |
0
Couples who bring thoughtful words to a fight release lower amounts of stress-related proteins, suggesting that rational communication between partners can ease the impact of marital conflict on the immune system.
Researchers discover mechanism of insulin production that can lead to better treatment for diabetes
Nov 12, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
How a specific gene within the pancreas affects secretion of insulin has been discovered by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with Japanese and American universities. Their ...
Snoring sounds may hold the key to a good night's sleep
Nov 10, 2009 |
2.5 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Hours of analysing snoring sounds have paid off for a group of researchers from The University of Queensland and Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Good food nation: Researchers think America's obesity epidemic can be reversed via 'foodsheds'
Nov 10, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the last three decades, childhood obesity in the United States has become a massive public-health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 1980 and 2006 the percentage ...
Implantable Glucose Sensor Could Spell Relief for Millions of Diabetics (w/ Video)
Nov 09, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- UConn researchers have developed a tiny wireless device that can be inserted under a patient?s skin to monitor blood glucose levels over a period of several months.
Scientists create fruit fly model to help unravel genetics of human diabetes
Nov 02, 2009 |
3 / 5 (1) |
0
As rates of obesity, diabetes, and related disorders have reached epidemic proportions in the US in recent years, scientists are working from many angles to pinpoint the causes and contributing factors involved ...
Lifestyle changes may stave off diabetes for a decade
Nov 02, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Sustaining modest weight loss for 10 years, or taking an anti-diabetic drug over that time, can prevent or lower the incidence of type 2 diabetes in people at high risk for developing the disease, according to the Diabetes ...
Exercise keeps dangerous visceral fat away a year after weight loss (w/ Video)
Oct 29, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
A study conducted by exercise physiologists in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Human Studies finds that as little as 80 minutes a week of aerobic or resistance training helps not only to prevent ...
