If you have diabetes, you have a problem with your pancreas: it either doesn’t produce enough insulin or your body isn’t using the hormone properly. Insulin helps your body absorb glucose (or blood sugar) into the cells for energy. If glucose is not absorbed, it can build up in the blood, damaging blood vessels and organs. Elevated blood sugar over the long term can cause eye problems, kidney problems, and nerve damage.
What is Type 1 Diabetes?
Also known as juvenile or insulin dependant diabetes, type one diabetes often occurs in people under thirty who are not overweight. In this type of diabetes, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin — insulin injections are required to regulate blood sugar levels. The cause of type one diabetes is not yet known; almost all cases of juvenile diabetes (approximately ninety percent) are in children who do not have a family history of the disease.
What is Type 2 Diabetes?
The pancreas does make insulin, but the body does not use it properly — this is type two diabetes. This type of diabetes is strongly linked to family history and obesity. If you are overweight, you have a greater chance of developing diabetes than a person who is not. Other risk factors include: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides.
What is Gestational Diabetes?
Between two and five percent of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes. Most cases go away after the pregnancy ends. The risk factors for developing gestational diabetes are the same as those for type two diabetes. Gestational diabetes slightly raises the risk of birth defects and can lead to the baby being large, which may make delivery difficult. Your doctor may test you six weeks or so after giving birth to make sure that your gestation diabetes does not turn into type two diabetes.