Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone that helps the body's tissues absorb glucose (sugar) so it can be used as a source of energy. The condition may also develop if muscle, fat, and liver cells respond poorly to insulin. In people with diabetes, glucose levels build up in the blood and urine, causing excessive urination, thirst, hunger, and problems with fat and protein metabolism. Diabetes usually appears as one of two major types: Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

In Type 1, formerly called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and juvenile-onset diabetes, the body does not produce insulin or produces it only in very small quantities. Symptoms usually appear suddenly, typically in individuals under twenty years of age.

 

 
Most cases occur around puberty-around age ten to twelve in girls and age twelve to fourteen in boys. In the United States, Type 1 diabetes accounts for 5-10% of all diabetes cases.

 

 

In Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and adult-onset diabetes, the body's delicate balance between insulin production and the ability of cells to use insulin is off-centered.

Symptoms characteristic of Type 2 diabetes include those found in Type 1 diabetes, as well as repeated infections or skin sores that heal slowly or not at all, generalized tiredness, and tingling or numbness in the hands and feet. Of the nearly seventeen million people in the United States with diabetes, 90-95% (about thirteen million people) has Type 2 diabetes.
     
In the United States , about 17 million people (6% of the population) suffer from diabetes. Every year, about one million people learn that they have the disease. Diabetes kills over 400,000 United States residents each year, and it is the sixth leading cause of all deaths caused by disease. Diabetes is most common in adults over 45 years of age; in people who are overweight or physically inactive; in individuals who have an immediate family member with diabetes; and in people of African American, Hispanic, and Native American descent. More women than men have been diagnosed with the disease

 

 

 

Diabetes is a major clinical and public health challenge within certain racial and ethnic groups. Many African American, Hispanic, and Native American populations, as well as economically disadvantaged or older people, suffer disproportionately compared to white populations. Deaths are two times higher in African American populations than they are in white populations, and diabetes-associated renal failure is 2.5 times higher in African American populations than it is in Hispanic populations. One in every four African American women, over 55, has diabetes.

 

 

Once diabetes is diagnosed, treatment consists of controlling the amount of glucose in the blood and preventing complications. Depending on the type of diabetes, this can be accomplished through regular physical exercise, a carefully controlled diet, and medication.

 
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