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DiabetesDiabetes Mellitus
ABCMD definition of Diabetes Mellitus: Your body cannot balance the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood.
What is Diabetes?:
There are 2 types of Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 and Type 2.
In Type 1 Diabetes (also called Juvenile Onset Diabetes, Insulin Dependent Diabetes) an organ in your abdomen called the pancreas stops making a substance called Insulin. For a reason that we do not know, your own body’s immune system (the same system that fights colds and infections) attacks and destroys the parts of the pancreas that make Insulin. This is the reason Diabetes is called an auto-immune disease. Without Insulin, your body cannot keep the amount of sugar in the blood at normal levels. Insulin is normally released into the blood from the pancreas where it travels all over your body and tells muscles, fat, etc to take up the sugar from the blood. Without this message to the body to take up the sugar, the sugar stays in the blood.
In Type 2 Diabetes (also called Adult Onset Diabetes, Insulin-resistant Diabetes and Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes) you still produce Insulin from the pancreas, just not enough. People with Type 2 Diabetes are generally over-weight. In fact, the extra fat in the body is actually what causes this type of Diabetes. The more fat someone has in their body the more Insulin it takes to keep the amount of sugar in the blood under control; this is called Insulin resistance. So unlike in Type 1 Diabetes where people do not make any Insulin, in Type 2 Diabetes they can make much more Insulin then they do normally, but this can still not be enough if they have too much body fat. In Type 2 Diabetes your pancreas is sending out the message to the body to take up the sugar, but the message is not heard by enough of your body and the sugar stays in the blood.
What are some of the symptoms people with Diabetes have and why do they have them?
1. Polyuria: Lots of urine (they pee a lot).
The organs in your body that make urine (pee) are called the kidneys. The kidneys can be thought of as filters. They take out all the waste from your blood and send that out in the urine and at the same time they save all the good stuff in the blood, including sugar. However, because the amount of sugar in the blood is elevated the kidneys are not able to save it all and sugar is lost into your urine. Water follows this sugar in your urine and causes you to you have to pee more.
2. Polydipsia- Increased thirst (they drink a lot).
Because you lose more water in your urine (see polyuria) you need to drink more to replace it.
3. Polyphagia- Increased hunger (they eat a lot).
The body does not have the sugar it needs for energy (because it is stuck in the blood) so it sends out signals to your brain to eat more. You see, your muscles, etc do not know there is plenty of sugar already in the blood. All they know is they don’t have any and they would like some.
4. Weakness-
Your body does not have the sugar it needs for energy and as a result people with Diabetes may feel tired, weak or fatigue easily.
5. Weight loss or inability to gain weight-
Because the sugar is stuck in the blood, your body has to use its stored sugar and people lose weight as they use this up.
6. Increased infections-
There are a lot of reasons for increased infections in Diabetes patients with Diabetes. However, the simple reasons are that your immune system does not work as well in Diabetes, there is more sugar in the blood and body for infectious bugs to eat up and your blood flow to many parts of your body is not as good as usual so cells in the immune system cannot get to where they need to go as easily. In other words, the bugs have more food to eat and the immune system is not only weak but has trouble getting to the bugs.
Below is a list of lab tests commonly performed in patients with Diabetes. Please click on any of the following to learn more about the test:
Fasting blood sugar test
Glucose tolerance test
Urine glucose
Hemoglobin A1C
This information has been edited by Matthew C Niesen MD, a resident at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in order to help ensure accuracy and completeness of information written. However, this information may not be entirely complete and should be discussed with your physician prior to making any medical decisions or changes in your medical care.
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