Different Types of Diabetes and What Is Insulin

Diabetes develops when a person's body either doesn't make or produce enough insulin or the body isn't able to use enough of the insulin properly. There are two main types of diabetes, type 1, in which the body does not produce enough insulin and type 2 where the body produces insulin but has trouble absorbing or using insulin in the cells.

Gestational diabetes develops in some women during pregnancy and usually goes away shortly after the child is born. No one really understands why it develops but many believe it has to do with the hormone changes during pregnancy. These hormones may have a blocking effect on insulin or make insulin resistant to being absorbed. In either case, gestational diabetes is a temporary condition during pregnancy. However, there is a chance the mother could develop type 2 diabetes later on in life so she needs to keep a watch on her health.

Insulin is a hormone used to change food into energy. The body makes insulin in the pancreas and more recently discovered also in the brain. Carbohydrates and proteins when digested are broken down and turned into sugar or glucose. The cells use glucose as fuel. During digestion, the liver releases insulin into the blood stream to send the glucose out of the blood and into the cells of the body. This is what gives you energy to get your daily activities done.

Since the discovery that insulin is produced in the brain as well, the link has been made that dementia and Alzheimer's disease are related to diabetes and now being dubbed type 3 diabetes. Apparently the brain cells need insulin to help retain memory. It is believed that a protein builds up in the brain cells and this blocks insulin from entering the brain cells.

Diabetes is a disease that affects many sections of the body. When your blood is saturated with glucose (sugar) it can restrict the blood flow throughout your body. This can cause many different complications from simple things to fatigue and weight gain to more complicated things like losing your eye sight to kidney disease and even cancer.

Diabetes can be managed and controlled through eating healthy foods, exercising on a regular basis to supplements and medication. Having diabetes doesn't mean you can't enjoy life, you can. It does mean you may have to make some lifestyle changes in order to have a long and healthy life.