What
is diabetes? | Statistics | FAQ's
Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases marked
by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in
insulin production, insulin action, or both. Diabetes can
lead to serious complications and premature death, but people
with diabetes can take steps to control the disease and lower
the risk of complications.
Types of diabetes
Type 1 diabetes was previously
called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or juvenile-onset
diabetes. Type 1 diabetes develops when the body's immune
system destroys pancreatic beta cells, the only cells in the
body that make the hormone insulin that regulates blood glucose.
To survive, people with type 1 diabetes must
have insulin delivered by injection or a pump. This form of
diabetes usually strikes children and young adults, although
disease onset can occur at any age. Type 1 diabetes accounts
for 5 percent to 10 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.
Risk factors for type 1 diabetes may be autoimmune, genetic,
or environmental. There is no known way to prevent type 1
diabetes. Several clinical trials of methods for the prevention
of type 1 diabetes are currently in progress or are being
planned.
Type 2 diabetes was previously
called non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or
adult-onset diabetes. Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90
percent to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.
It usually begins as insulin resistance, a disorder in which
the cells do not use insulin properly. As the need for insulin
rises, the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce
it.
Type 2 diabetes is associated with older age,
obesity, a family history of diabetes, a history of gestational
diabetes, impaired glucose metabolism, physical inactivity,
and race/ethnicity. African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans,
American Indians, and some Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians
or other Pacific Islanders are at particularly high risk for
type 2 diabetes and its complications. Clinically-based reports
and regional studies suggest that type 2 diabetes in children
and adolescents, although still rare, is being diagnosed more
frequently, particularly in American Indians, African Americans,
and Hispanic/Latino Americans.
Gestational diabetes is a form
of glucose intolerance diagnosed in some women during pregnancy.
Gestational diabetes occurs more frequently among African
Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, and American Indians.
It is also more common among obese women and women with a
family history of diabetes.
During pregnancy, gestational diabetes
requires treatment to normalize maternal blood glucose levels
to avoid complications in the infant. After pregnancy, 5 to
10 percent of women with gestational diabetes are found to
have type 2 diabetes. Women who have had gestational diabetes
have a 20 to 50 percent chance of developing diabetes in the
next 5 to 10 years.
Other types of diabetes result
from specific genetic conditions (such as maturity-onset diabetes
of youth), surgery, drugs, malnutrition, infections, and other
illnesses. Such types of diabetes may account for 1 to 5 percent
of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.
Source: National Diabetes Information
Clearinghouse
