Kylie has type 1 diabetes. She loves her comfort quilt handmade with love for her by iPump volunteers. |
Who do you know that has diabetes?You might be surprised.... because almost everyone knows someone who has diabetes. An estimated 20.8 million people in the United States—7.0 percent of the population—have diabetes, a serious, lifelong condition. Of those, 14.6 million have been diagnosed, and 6.2 million have not yet been diagnosed. In 2005, about 1.5 million people aged 20 or older were diagnosed with diabetes. For additional statistics, see the National Diabetes Statistics fact sheet online at www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/statistics or call the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse at 1–800–860–8747 to request a copy. |
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism—the way our bodies use digested food for growth and energy. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body.
After digestion, glucose passes into the bloodstream, where it is used by cells for growth and energy. For glucose to get into cells, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach.
When we eat, the pancreas automatically produces the right amount of insulin to move glucose from blood into our cells. In people with diabetes, however, the pancreas either produces little or no insulin, or the cells do not respond appropriately to the insulin that is produced. Glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body in the urine. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel even though the blood contains large amounts of glucose.
There are many types and causes of diabetes. There are many types of diabetes and more than one cause, however, all types of diabetes are incurable (the exception is for gestational diabetes which is often a temporary form of diabetes but can lead to an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes later on).
Insulin dependent diabetics will die without insulin. People with all forms of type 1 diabetes are insulin dependent. This means without taking insulin each day they will die. If a persons takes too little or too much insulin they can suffer serious medical complications or even rapid death.
Find more information about all forms of diabetes:
This information is an excerpt from NIH Publication No. 06–3873, September 2006, reprinted with permission courtesy of the National Institutes for Health.
