What is Diabetes?

Fast & Simple Diabetes Facts

Diabetes is a non-communicable disease, which is found to be the 6th largest cause of death among Americans. The term “diabetes” in Greek means - a "siphon” and was so named because patients suffering from this medical condition experienced polyuria, or the urge to urinate frequently and ‘passed water like a siphon’. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, in which the pancreas in the body of the patient produces little or no insulin at all. But insulin is a very important hormone of the human body, which is needed to convert glucose into energy. This disease can also occur if the patient’s body is unable to utilize the insulin produced in the correct manner.

Diabetes is of three types – Diabetes mellitus and Diabetes insipidus and Gestational Diabetes. The patients suffering from this disease suffer from chronic hyper-glycaemia and highly disturbed carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism pathways. Such patients experience symptoms such as increased urination, extreme thirst, and unexplained weight loss. With the advancement of the disease, such patients can also develop further health complications such as cardiovascular disorders, heart diseases, damage to the eyes in the form of blindness, which is known as diabetic retinopathy, damage to the kidneys, which is known as diabetic nephropathy and damage to the nerves, which is known as diabetic neuropathy.