Diabetes: Fast Facts
Reviewed By:
Nikheel Kolatkar, M.D.
- Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the body
mistakenly attacks the insulin-making cells of the pancreas.
- Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body has
trouble using insulin to process blood sugar for energy.
- Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common form of diabetes,
accounting for up to 95 percent of cases.
- Pregnant women can develop a condition called gestational
diabetes.
- Other forms of diabetes include an inherited condition called
maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY); latent autoimmune
diabetes of adulthood, a variation of type 1 diabetes that develops
in adults; and secondary diabetes, which is caused by another
condition, such as pancreatitis, or by a medical treatment, such as
corticosteroid therapy.
- Most forms of diabetes last the rest of a person's life, but
gestational diabetes and some cases of secondary diabetes are
temporary.
- Experts such as the American Diabetes Association say that you
don't get diabetes from eating sugar. However, some studies have
found that sugary or high-carb diets might increase the risk of
developing type 2 diabetes. And overeating can lead to obesity, a
big risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
- One reason that type 1 diabetes is no longer called juvenile
diabetes and type 2 diabetes is no longer called adult-onset
diabetes is that increasing numbers of children are becoming
overweight and developing type 2 diabetes.
- Scary thought -- the U.S. government predicts that a third of
American children born in 2000 will eventually develop
diabetes.
- Type 2 diabetes is one of the world's most devastating and
costly diseases -- and one that often can be prevented.
- Everyone with type 1 diabetes and some people with other forms
of diabetes must take insulin to survive.
- Syringe injections are the most common way of taking insulin.
Other methods include insulin pens and insulin pumps.
- Scientists are working on new ways of taking insulin, including
sprays, skin patches and pills. The first inhaled insulin became
available in 2006. It was withdrawn from the market after little
more than a year because of poor sales, but other versions might
one day find success.
- Type 1 diabetes cannot turn into type 2 diabetes, or vice
versa. However, sometimes people with type 1 diabetes develop
insulin resistance, a hallmark of type 2, usually because of weight
gain and less commonly because of genetic factors. This condition
is known as double diabetes. And some people with type 2 diabetes
do not need to take insulin at first but later do to control their
blood sugar.
- Medications can come from the strangest places -- one diabetes
drug is a synthetic version of a hormone found in the saliva of a
venomous lizard called the Gila monster!
- There is an unrelated disease called diabetes insipidus, in
which the kidneys release too much water.
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