Diabetes Help

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2006-06-09T22:51:00.000-07:00

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Insulin

2006-06-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

Since insulin is the principal hormone that regulates uptake of glucose into most cells from the blood (primarily muscle and fat cells, but not central nervous system cells), deficiency of insulin or its receptors plays a central role in all forms of diabetes mellitus.

Most of the carbohydrates in food are rapidly converted to glucose, the principal sugar in blood. Insulin is produced by beta cells (β-cells) in the pancreas in response to rising levels of glucose in the blood, as occurs after a meal. Insulin makes it possible for most body tissues to remove glucose from the blood for use as fuel, for conversion to other needed molecules, or for storage. Insulin is also the principal control signal for conversion of glucose (the basic sugar used for fuel) to glycogen for storage in liver and muscle cells. Lowered insulin levels result in the reverse conversion of glycogen to glucose when glucose levels fall — though only liver glucose so produced goes back into the blood. Higher insulin levels increase many anabolic ("building up") processes such as cell growth, cellular protein synthesis, and fat storage. Insulin is the principal signal in converting many of the bidirectional processes of metabolism from a catabolic to an anabolic direction, and vice versa.

If the amount of insulin available is insufficient, if cells respond poorly to the effects of insulin (insulin insensitivity or resistance), or if the insulin itself is defective, glucose is not handled properly by body cells (about 2/3 require it) or stored appropriately in the liver and muscles. The net effect is persistent high levels of blood glucose, poor protein synthesis, and other metabolic derangements.

Discovery of Diabetes

2006-06-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

Although diabetes has been recognized since antiquity, and treatments of various efficacy have been known since the Middle Ages, the elucidation of the pathogenesis of diabetes occurred mainly in the 20th century.[1]

The discovery of the role of the pancreas in diabetes is generally ascribed to Joseph von Mering and Oskar Minkowski, European researchers who in 1889 found that when they completely removed the pancreas of dogs, the dogs developed all the signs and symptoms of diabetes and died shortly afterward. In 1910, Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer of Edinburgh in Scotland suggested that people with diabetes were deficient in a single chemical that was normally produced by the pancreas — he proposed calling this substance insulin. The term is derived from the Latin insula, meaning island, in reference to the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas that produce insulin.

2 Types of Diabetes

2006-06-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

Diabetes mellitus is a medical disorder characterized by varying or persistent hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels) resulting from the defective secretion or action of the hormone insulin. There are several kinds of diabetes mellitus, but most are rare. The most common types are:

* diabetes mellitus type 1 (previously called juvenile onset diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes mellitus -- IDDM) is characterized by decreased or absent production of insulin
* diabetes type 2 (previously called adult onset diabetes, obesity related diabetes, or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus -- NIDDM), which is characterized by body tissue resistance to insulin action, though decreased secretion of insulin can also occur concomitantly

Type 2 is by far the most common form, especially in developed countries, and is characterized by a decrease in the ability to respond to insulin, though often in the presence of normal insulin amounts. Its causes are obscure in detail but are connected with heredity and with lifestyle (eg, Western diet and obesity).

Type 1 diabetes almost always requires insulin injections, and is generally fatal without proper treatment. Type 2 diabetes can sometimes be managed by weight reduction and exercise alone. Often oral medication and/or insulin are initially required. Most cases of type 2 diabetes are eventually treated with medication.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, in which the body makes antibodies that attack the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The cause is complex and unclear, but may involve genetics, viruses, diet and environmental factors such as chemicals. Type 1 diabetes was once called juvenile diabetes because it is often diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood. People with type 1 diabetes must take insulin by injection, pump or other methods. Possible treatments, which are cures when successful, include transplant of a segment of pancreas or with islet (beta) cells.