Diabetes Cause

Diabetes is caused by your body not being able to control its blood sugar level through insulin. Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that lowers blood sugar. Sugar in controlled amounts is neccessary for life but too is toxic. Type 1 Diabetes that starts as a kid is a result of no insulin being made. Type 2 Diabetes starts later in life and come from too little insulin being made or your body being insensitive to the insulin signal.

Insulin tells cells like your muscles and fat tissue to sponge up sugar from the blood. When the pancreas senses high blood sugar it squirts out insulin to lower it and protect your body from sticky sugar damage (glycosylation).

Kid Type 1 Diabetes is caused by your pancreas not squirting out any insulin to combat high blood sugar. It is caused by early destruction of pancreas cells by viral infections, autoimmune self directed attacks, or congenital absence of insulin cells. Once destroyed there's no cure. But scientists are experimenting at implanting new pancreas cells.

Adult onset Type 2 Diabetes is caused by either by a pancreas that's not squirting out enough insulin or insulin that doesn't effectively stimulate tissues to suck sugar from the blood. This form of diabetes is most often found in persons who are overweight.

Diabetes is a multi-factorial disease. It is caused by an interplay of several factors.

We do know however that careful diet low in refined sugars and starches, exercise, and weight control, lower your risk of developing diabetes.

Symptoms of Diabetes:

• Urinating often, waking several times at night to go.
  
• Extraordinary thirst.
  
• Rapid weight loss and ravenous appetite.
  
• Frequent or severe skin and vaginal infections with weak bugs like thrush, yeast, boils and ringworm.
  

• Coma if left untreated.
  
• Bad Breath that smells like nail-polish remover.
  
• Blurred Vision.
  

Diabetes Diagnosis

If your doctor suspects you have diabetes s/he will send you for a blood sugar test. You fast from midnight and have your blood tested the next morning before breakfast.
Urine samples are traditionally used by doctors and clinics to screen patients for diabetes - a form of early detection. A dip-stick is placed into a sample of urine. If high in sugar the indicator changes color. Once diabetes is suspected, blood testing is used for confirmation.

Diabetes Effects

• Heart disease. Four out of five diabetics die from heart disease.
  
• Strokes are also more common due to higher cholesterol.
  
• Pain and tingling in fingers and feet. Prolonged high blood sugar is toxic to nerves.
  
• Lost sensation in feet leads to injury without awareness e.g. stepping on glass without pain.
  
• High blood sugar makes white blood cells lazy. This makes infections especially of the skin more common and severe.
  
• Cataracts and retinal damage.
  
• Kidney disease with protein spilling.