Diabetes is a disease where in the body does not produce or appropriately use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is required to change sugar, starches and other food into energy much needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be unknown, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play important roles.

In order to determine whether or not a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers carry out a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Either test can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes.

With the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes.

In the OGTT test, a person's blood glucose level is measured after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes
Results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to get in and fuel them.

Type 2 diabetes
Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency.

Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant.

Pre-diabetes
Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

Often diabetes goes undiagnosed because many of its symptoms appear so harmless. Recent studies indicate that the early detection of diabetes symptoms and treatment can reduce the chance of developing the complications of diabetes.

Some diabetes symptoms include:

Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they mostly have "pre-diabetes" -- blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Some recent research has shown that some long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, may already be occurring during pre-diabetes.

Research has also shown that if any action is taken to manage the blood glucose while having pre-diabetes, one can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes from developing forever.

There is a lot one can do to know their risks for pre-diabetes and to take action to prevent diabetes if one has, or is at risk for, pre-diabetes. People with pre-diabetes can expect to benefit from much of the same advice for good nutrition and physical activity.

In diagnosing diabetes, physicians mostly depend on the results of specific glucose tests. However, test results are just a part of the information that goes into the diagnosis of diabetes. Doctors also take into account the physical exam, presence or absence of symptoms, and medical history. Some people who are significantly ill will have transient problems with elevated blood sugars which will then return to normal after the illness has resolved. Also, some medications may alter the blood glucose levels (most commonly steroids and certain diuretics (water pills)). The two main tests used to measure the presence of blood sugar problems are [1] the direct measurement of glucose levels in the blood during an overnight fast, and [2] measurement of the body's ability to appropriately handle the excess sugar presented after drinking a high glucose drink.

The "gold standard" for diagnosing diabetes is an elevated blood sugar level after an overnight fast (not eating anything after midnight). A value above 140 mg/dl on at least two occasions typically means a person is having diabetes. Normal people have fasting sugar levels that usually run between 70-110 mg/dl.

An oral glucose tolerance test is one that can be performed in a doctor's office or a laboratory. The person being tested starts the test in a fasting state (having no food or drink except water for at least 10 hours but not greater than 16 hours). An initial blood sugar is drawn and then the person is given a "glucola" bottle with a high amount of sugar in it (75 grams of glucose), (or 100 grams for pregnant women). The person then has their blood tested again 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours after drinking the high glucose drink.

For the test to give appropriate results, one should be in good health (not to have any other illnesses, not even a cold). Also, one should be normally active (for example, not lying down or confined to a bed like a patient in a hospital) and taking no medicines that could affect your blood glucose. On the morning of the test, one should not smoke or drink coffee. During the test, one should lie or sit quietly.

There are several aspects in the treatment of diabetes, each one with a very important role.

The mainstays of treatment are:

Note: Type 1 Diabetes should be treated with insulin. This involves injecting insulin under the skin for it to work. Insulin cannot be taken as a pill because the digestive juices in the stomach would destroy the insulin before it could start working. Scientists are looking out for new ways to give insulin. But today, shots are the only method. There are, however, new methods to give the shots...Insulin Pumps are nowadays widely used and many people are having splendid results.