Educate Yourself
What is Diabetes?
Your body's primary source of energy is sugar. Sugar comes from breaking down carbohydrate foods. These foods include fruits, milk, yogurt, sweets, rice, pasta, beans and starchy vegetables such as corn, potato and green peas.
The following diagram shows how your body uses sugar for energy when you do not have diabetes:
Carbohydrate from the food you eat is broken down into sugar through the digestive process and released into your blood. The blood acts as the transportation system and carries the sugar to all the cells of your body. In order for sugar to move into the cells, insulin, which is produced by the pancreas, must be present. You can think of insulin like the key to the door of the cell. Insulin unlocks the door to the cell allowing sugar to move in and provide energy.
Diabetes is a condition in which there is too much sugar (glucose) in the blood. Normally, the body gets the energy it needs from sugar. Having diabetes means the body is not able to use the blood sugar for energy. As a result, the sugar builds up in the blood.
Symptoms of Diabetes
- Frequent urination
- Very thirsty
- Increased appetite
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Blurred vision
- Wounds take a long time to heal
- Numbness or tingling in feet or hands
- Nausea, vomiting, stomach ache
In some instances there are no symptoms and in others it can take a long time for symptoms to show. People can live years without knowing they have the disease.
