Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that is becoming more prevalent worldwide. There are several different types and causes of diabetes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diabetes causes high blood sugar, which is harmful to health. As of 2015, 30.3 million people in the United States, or about 9.4 percent of the population, had diabetes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, more than 1 in 4 people with diabetes don’t know they have it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having undiagnosed diabetes increases the risk of diabetes-related complications such as kidney disease, heart disease, amputations, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The majority of people with diabetes have type 2, which typically affects older adults and can be related to multiple known risk factors, including race, weight, and some lifestyle factors. Type 1 diabetes is rarer as it’s an autoimmune disorder<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Type 1 usually occurs before age 18, which is why it’s also referred to as juvenile diabetes. Moreover, type 1 diabetes affects about 2-5% of the world’s population or about 1 in 300 American adults before the age of 18. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As discussed above, there are several different types of diabetes, each with a unique set of symptoms and complications. In this article, we will discuss each type and the causes behind them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Diabetes mellitus, or diabetes, is a disease affecting the regulation of blood glucose (sugar) levels. An organ called the pancreas creates the hormone insulin, which helps keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With diabetes, the pancreas either doesn’t make enough insulin, or the body doesn’t respond to it well. Without proper insulin function<\/a>, blood sugar levels rise and can lead to health problems if left untreated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Treating diabetes takes a significant economic toll, with an estimated cost of $327 billion spent in 2017 to treat diabetes. Diabetes can cause many other health problems, further increasing healthcare costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the complications from chronic diabetes can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n While diabetes is a serious disease, the chance of diabetes complications<\/a> can be reduced with proper management of blood sugar levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can treat diabetes with lifestyle changes, medications, and other aspects of a good diabetes management<\/a> plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly views the pancreas’ beta cells as foreign invaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An autoimmune condition is one in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own cells. The beta cells are responsible for producing insulin, which helps keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks these cells, leading to their destruction. The result is that the pancreas then can’t produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels from rising too high. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The process of the beta cells being destroyed can take years before symptoms arise, which makes it hard to salvage any beta-cell function by the time of diagnosis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why type 1 diabetes is referred to as “insulin-dependent” diabetes – the pancreas creates very little to no insulin, thus requiring injectable insulin and sometimes insulin pumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The risk factors for type 1 diabetes<\/a> aren’t as well-understood as the other types of diabetes because of its nature as an autoimmune disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some known risk factors for developing type 1 diabetes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Type 2 diabetes<\/a> isn’t an autoimmune disease, and its risk factors are more well-known than type 1. The risk factors for type 2 diabetes tend to be more related to lifestyle habits such as being inactive, being overweight, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Type 2 diabetes usually affects adults (being over the age of 45 is a risk factor), but unfortunately, it is becoming more prevalent in younger people. Due to the increase in childhood obesity,<\/a> more children are getting type 2 diabetes as young as the age of ten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Type 2 diabetes is usually caused by insulin resistance<\/a>, which is when the body doesn’t use insulin the way it should. When the body “resists” insulin, the pancreas increases the amount of insulin it’s producing to help reduce blood sugar levels.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n This can lead to the pancreas being overworked, which can eventually lead to its inability to create enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels in balance<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People with type 2 diabetes usually have some<\/em> pancreatic function left, so they can be treated with lifestyle changes and medications besides insulin. However, over time the remaining pancreatic function can decline, leading to insulin reliance as a treatment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Symptoms of type 2 diabetes are similar to those of type 1 and include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the most common risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes are low physical activity and being overweight. However, people not considered to be overweight can also develop type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gestational diabetes<\/a> (GDM) occurs specifically during pregnancy and often resolves after pregnancy. Hormonal changes in pregnancy can trigger insulin resistance, which is the leading cause of GDM. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People with gestational diabetes are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life even though their blood sugars will usually return to normal after giving birth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gestational diabetes is usually diagnosed between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The signs and symptoms of gestational diabetes are similar to those of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gestational diabetes affects between 2-10% of pregnancies in the United States. It is usually managed by the mother’s healthcare provider as well as other specialists such as dietitians and diabetes educators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes women with gestational diabetes will be referred to a provider who specializes in high-risk pregnancies<\/a> since a woman with GDM is considered high-risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Risk factors for developing gestational diabetes mellitus include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n GDM has risks for both mother and baby, which is why controlling blood sugar levels during pregnancy is a high priority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some risks of gestational diabetes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prediabetes<\/a> is a condition where blood sugars are slightly elevated but not high enough to be considered diabetes. Having prediabetes is a significant risk factor for eventually developing type 2 diabetes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that up to 30% of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes<\/a> within five years of their prediabetes diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the challenges with prediabetes is that it is often asymptomatic for the majority of the time you might have it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since it has no obvious symptoms, it often goes undetected until serious health problems show up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One possible sign of prediabetes is dark patches of skin on certain parts of your body. This can occur on the neck, armpits, elbows, knees, and knuckles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA)<\/strong> is often misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes at first, but it is more like type 1 than type 2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is often misdiagnosed at first because it impacts adults, whereas type 1 diabetes typically presents during childhood and teenage years (juvenile-onset diabetes). This is what we call type 1.5 diabetes<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some tests that can help differentiate LADA from type 2 include specific antibody tests, including C-peptide, IAA, IA-2A, ZnT8Ab, ICA, GADA, or anti-GAD. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another subset of type 1.5 diabetes is diabetes MODY<\/strong><\/a>, which stands for “maturity-onset diabetes of the young” and is quite rare. It’s a form of monogenic diabetes, which is caused by a gene mutation. It can impact infants, adolescents, and young adults, whereas LADA usually shows up in adults over the age of 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some other rarer causes of diabetes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is <\/strong>diabetes<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Diabetes Complications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n\n\n\nWhat is type 1 diabetes?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n\n\n\nRisk Factors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n\n\n\nWhat is type 2 diabetes?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Risk Factors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n\n\n\nWhat is gestational diabetes<\/strong>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Symptoms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Precedence of gestational diabetes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Gestational diabetes risk factors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n\n\n\nComplications and risks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n\n\n\nWhat is prediabetes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Symptoms of prediabetes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Risk Factors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Other <\/strong>diabetes<\/strong> causes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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