Diabetes Mellitus is a life long illness due to elevated levels of glucose (a kind of sugar) in blood. Most of the food we eat is ultimately broken down into glucose in the body at the end of the digestive process and enters blood. This load of glucose is then carried to the cells by the blood stream, to be used as fuel to generate energy.

In healthy people, there is a hormone called 'insulin' which helps to transport glucose from the blood stream to the cells. It works like a key opening the door to enter into cells.

When you have diabetes, either your body doesn't make enough insulin to transport glucose into cells or the insulin in the body doesn't act properly. So your blood glucose is not transported into the cells. Hence your body cells are starving amidst a sea of glucose, as the 'key' is not functioning to open the door and let it in. |Page Top|

Diabetes may be primary or secondary.
Secondary diabetes is rare, occurs due to some other disorder like liver disease, pancreatic or other endocrine disorder, due to certain drug usage etc.
Primary diabetes is divided into two main groups.
Type I diabetes - represents 10% of the diabetic population
Type II diabetes - represents 90% of the diabetic population

Type I diabetes is commonly seen in younger population. In this group, there is a deficiency of insulin in the body. So invariably their treatment requires insulin replacement. These patients are usually less than 20 years at presentation, lean and can present with weight loss, increased frequency of passing urine and a marked increase of thirst. They can come with ketoacidosis if they ignore the above symptoms.
Type II diabetes is commoner out of the two and seen in the older population, usually > 40 years. Very often they are over weight and consume a diet rich in refined sugars. They present late as the onset of illness is very gradual and hardly noticeable and by the time they are diagnosed the disease has already affected some organs.|Page Top|

Prediabetes, as the name implies is a stage before developing diabetes. People who develop type II diabetes mellitus almost always have a prediabetes stage, where their blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be labeled as having diabetes.
Prediabetes was earlier referred to as Impaired glucose tolerance.

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Complications of diabetes occur due to long standing high blood glucose levels. High blood glucose levels can speed up the clogging of blood vessels supplying many organs of the body.
Although strict control of blood sugar makes complications less likely, even the very best control may not be able to eliminate all complications! Your risk of developing complications increases with the length of time you have diabetes.
Diabetes mainly affects the eyes, kidneys, nerves, large and small blood vessels and skin.  More "click"  |Page Top|

You cannot catch diabetes from some one else having it nor can you develop diabetes by simply eating lot of sugar!
What causes diabetes is not very clear. Type I diabetes occurs due to absolute deficiency of insulin. This happens when there is a destruction of insulin producing cells in the pancreas. The destruction of pancreatic cells may happen due to viral infections and some times it is attributed to auto immune reactions or body's own cell reactions.

Type II diabetes is a manifestation of genetic predisposition, in the presence of other environmental factors like diet rich in refined sugar, sedentary life style and obesity.
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Yes and No.

If you have diabetes, your children carry a higher risk of developing diabetes. This risk is greater with a diabetic father (1:20 -1:40) than with a diabetic mother (1:40 - 1:80).

If one child in a family has diabetes, each sibling has 1:20 risk of developing diabetes.
All this means that if parents have diabetes, their children will not always get it. But they do carry an increased chance in the presence of other risk factors.|Page Top|

Several approaches to "cure" Diabetes are being pursued like: pancreas transplantation, and the development of an artificial pancreas, genetic manipulation etc. But each of these approaches still have many challenges. |Page Top| 

A number of studies have shown that regular physical activity and healthy eating habits can significantly reduce the risk of developing type II diabetes. It also appears to be associated with obesity. Researchers are making progress in identifying the exact genetics and "triggers" that predispose some individuals to develop type 1 diabetes, but prevention, as well as a cure, remains elusive |Page Top|

Treatment is life long!
All diabetics require diet therapy because good blood sugar control is unlikely with medicines alone. Some patients achieve good sugar control with dietary adjustment alone and do not require medicines.
Patients who have type I diabetes and who are under the age of 40 years, are usually treated with insulin. Others are treated with tablets, depending on the individual, considering their blood sugar status, obesity, life style etc. Tablets are contraindicated in pregnancy. |Page Top|

When your blood sugar is high, you will always feel thirsty and will make lot of urine. You make lot of urine in order to get rid of excess sugar in the blood.
When you have high blood sugar levels for some time, you may notice that you have lost weight in spite of having more than normal appetite. One might feel lifeless and tired due to lack of energy. There may be sores or skin infections that would not heal and you may frequently get urine and fungal infections. |Page Top|

They are; hunger, nervousness, shakiness, sweating, irritability and a feeling of faint and confusion.
Immediately check your blood sugar. If 70mg/dl or below; you should take some glucose, tea with sugar or fruit juice or a soft drink and recheck 15 minutes later. If your blood sugar is still low, you can repeat the above and eat a snack till you get your sugar up to normal level. If you do not act swiftly you may go in to a state of coma. So, if you have developed the above signs and there's no way of checking your blood sugar just go ahead and treat your self with a food containing sugar. |Page Top|