A little bit about me to set the stage. I was diagnosed with type II diabetes in August of 2006 when I had routine blood work done during a visit to the doctor's office. Although the fasting glucose was 110 mg/dcl (more about this unit of measurement later), just hovering around the normal borderline, my doctor decided to do a glucose tolerance test which revealed in no uncertain terms that I was diabetic. For those not familiar with the glucose tolerance test, it consists of some iterations of checking the glucose every 2 hours after you initially consume a sugary drink. For a diabetic, the results will show a significant rise in blood glucose levels even after 2 hours of consuming the sugary drink. For the non diabetic person, blood sugar levels would have normalised.
Also I should mention that I am not a medical doctor but just someone with type II diabetes and am sharing what I have learned. I am actually in Real Estate in the Washington, DC Metro area.
So What Makes Someone A Diabetic?
As soon as we eat or drink something, it breaks down into sugar in our blood. This causes our pancreas (an organ in our body) to swing into action and release insulin or what are called beta cells. These beta cells act on the sugar and release them into our cells. This is normal chain of events when we eat or drink and it starts as soon as we have taken our first bite in our mouth. So the pancreas act to regulate and control the blood sugar in our bodies by sending the beta cells as needed to keep the blood sugar in check. However, in the case of a type II diabetic, they do not have enough beta cells and or their beta cells have also become inefficient. This means that they are not able to control the sugar that was the result of eating or drinking. Consequently, the sugar remains in the blood and therefore it results in a higher glucose reading when a blood test is done.
There are 2 types of diabetics. The type I is what is known as juvenile which as the word suggests, starts at a young age. With type I, the pancreas hardly produce any insulin and so insulin shots have to be injected before any meals. However, type II diabetes, usually strikes anywhere from mid forties (however it is striking younger and younger people now a days...more about this later) to sixties and later in life. There are approximately 20 million that suffer from diabetes in the U.S.
What causes Diabetes?
Short answer is an overworking and underpaid pancreas. Let me explain further. The food that we eat converts into sugar in the blood. The pancreas release the hormone insulin which have beta cells that act on the sugar and release them into the cells. The sugar when released into the cells gives us energy. This cycle repeats itself everytime we eat or drink and starts at our birth. So it is safe to assume that the pancreas will get overworked over time and start losing their luster. This happens only in some people and it depends on our diet and genetic disposition.
In the upcoming issues we will explore why it is important to take control of diabetes and look at the consequences if it is not controlled.
