The Types Of DiabetesThere are four major types of diabetes, Type 1, Type 2, Gestational, and Pre-diabetes. Type 1 diabetes usually develops in children and young adults, and is a result in the body’s failure to produce insulin. People diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are insulin dependent and have to take regular doses of insulin to keep in under control. If you are a man with type 1 diabetes, the odds of your child getting diabetes are 1 in 17. If you are a woman with type 1 diabetes and your child was born before you were 25, your child's risk is 1 in 25. If your child was born after you turned 25, your child's risk is 1 in 100. Your child’s risk is doubled if you developed diabetes before age 11. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes.
Anyone who has type 1 diabetes needs insulin to survive. Because stomach enzymes interfere with insulin, oral insulin is not an option. Insulin needs to be injected using a very fine needle and syringe or an insulin pen — a piece of equipment that looks like an ink pen, only the cartridge is filled with insulin. An insulin pump may also be an option. The pump is a device about the size of a cell phone worn on the outside of your body. A tube connects the reservoir of insulin to a catheter that's inserted under the skin of your abdomen. The pump is programmed to dispense the correct amounts of insulin automatically. It can be adjusted to deliver more or less insulin depending on meals, activity level and blood sugar level. Finding out you have diabetes is very scary. Type 1 diabetes is serious, but people with diabetes can live long, healthy, lives. Non-Insulin dependent diabetes, or Type 2 diabetes doesn’t normally appear until the mid forties or later. The age and weight of the person are closely connected with the type of treatment they will need. If you are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, your doctor will usually prescribe an oral medication to help lower your blood glucose levels. There are many different types of drugs, and they all work in different ways to control blood sugar. Checking your blood glucose levels several times a day with a glucose monitor or blood test strips helps you to know how your body reacts to medications, food and exercise. Keep records of your levels. It will help you to understand how your food choices, medications and activity level affect your blood glucose levels.Gestational diabetes affects approximately 4 % of all pregnant women. Researchers do not know what causes this condition, but we have learned that the hormones produced by the placenta blocks the actions of the insulin and make it hard for the mother’s body to use it. Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed into energy, resulting in high levels of glucose in the blood stream. Before people develop Type 2 diabetes, they usually have pre-diabetes. This is when their blood sugar levels are higher than what is normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as a diabetic. Recent studies have shown that people with pre-diabetes can return their blood glucose levels to normal by making changes in their diets and increasing their daily physical activity. |