Post by Admin on Nov 18, 2015 8:57:35 GMT
The two types of diabetes, insulin-dependent (type 1) and non insulin-dependent (type 2), are different disorders. While the causes, short-term effects, and treatments for the two types differ, both can cause the same long-term health problems. Both types also affect the body's ability to use digested food for energy. Diabetes doesn't interfere with digestion, but it does prevent the body from using an important product of digestion, glucose (commonly known as sugar), for energy.
After a meal the digestive system breaks some food down into sugar. The blood carries the sugar throughout the body, causing blood sugar levels to rise. In response to this rise the hormone insulin is released into the bloodstream to signal the body tissues to metabolize or burn the sugar for fuel, causing blood sugar levels to return to normal. A gland called the pancreas, found just behind the stomach, makes insulin. Sugar the body doesn't use right away goes to the liver, muscle, or fat for storage.
In someone with diabetes, this process doesn't work correctly. In people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas doesn't produce insulin. This condition usually begins in childhood. People with this kind of diabetes must have daily insulin injections to survive.
In people with type 2 diabetes the pancreas usually produces some insulin, but the body doesn't respond very well to the insulin signal and, therefore, doesn't metabolize the sugar properly, a condition called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is an important factor in type 2 diabetes.
After a meal the digestive system breaks some food down into sugar. The blood carries the sugar throughout the body, causing blood sugar levels to rise. In response to this rise the hormone insulin is released into the bloodstream to signal the body tissues to metabolize or burn the sugar for fuel, causing blood sugar levels to return to normal. A gland called the pancreas, found just behind the stomach, makes insulin. Sugar the body doesn't use right away goes to the liver, muscle, or fat for storage.
In someone with diabetes, this process doesn't work correctly. In people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas doesn't produce insulin. This condition usually begins in childhood. People with this kind of diabetes must have daily insulin injections to survive.
In people with type 2 diabetes the pancreas usually produces some insulin, but the body doesn't respond very well to the insulin signal and, therefore, doesn't metabolize the sugar properly, a condition called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is an important factor in type 2 diabetes.