Related topics: type 2 diabetes , type 1 diabetes , insulin , blood sugar , insulin resistance
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
Fibre may keep asthma, diabetes at bay, study finds
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Insoluble dietary fibre, or roughage, not only keeps you regular, say Australian scientists, it also plays a vital role in the immune system, keeping certain diseases at bay.
Study shows how substance in grapes may squeeze out diabetes
Oct 15, 2009 |
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A naturally produced molecule called resveratrol, found in the skin of red grapes, has been shown to lower insulin levels in mice when injected directly into the brain, even when the animals ate a high-fat ...
Promise of nanodiamonds for safer gene therapy
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Sep 01, 2009 |
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Gene therapy holds promise in the treatment of a myriad of diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes, among many others. However, developing a scalable system for delivering genes to cells both efficiently and ...
New genetic mechanism that controls body's fat-building process found
Aug 26, 2009 |
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At a time of alarming increases in obesity and associated diseases -- and fiery debates about the cost of health care -- a UCF research team has identified a new genetic mechanism that controls the body's fat-building process.
Noninsulin-producing alpha cells in the pancreas can be converted to insulin-producing beta cells
Aug 06, 2009 |
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In findings that add to the prospects of regenerating insulin-producing cells in people with type 1 diabetes, researchers in Europe -- co-funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation -- have shown that insulin-producing ...
Common allergy drug reduces obesity and diabetes in mice
Jul 26, 2009 |
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Crack open the latest medical textbook to the chapter on type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes, and you'll be hard pressed to find the term "immunology" anywhere. This is because metabolic conditions and immunologic conditions ...
Study strengthens link between sirtuins proteins and life extension
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new paper from MIT biology professor Leonard Guarente strengthens the link between longevity proteins called sirtuins and the lifespan-extending effects of calorie restriction.
Study finds over 90 percent of people with gum disease are at risk for diabetes
Dec 14, 2009 |
3 / 5 (3) |
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The study, led by Dr. Shiela Strauss, Associate Professor of Nursing and Co-Director of the Statistics and Data Management Core for NYU's Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing, examined data from 2,923 adult participants in the ...
Study shows how gene action may lead to diabetes prevention, cure
Dec 11, 2009 |
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A gene commonly studied by cancer researchers has been linked to the metabolic inflammation that leads to diabetes.
An atomic-level look at an HIV accomplice
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(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 ...
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 |
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(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) |
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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 |
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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 ...
Lifestyle changes, drug lower type 2 diabetes risk
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Intensive lifestyle changes aimed at modest weight loss reduced the rate of developing type 2 diabetes by 34 percent over 10 years in people at high risk for the disease.
