Diabetes causes and symptoms: All you need to know about diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which the amount of blood glucose or blood sugar level becomes too high.

Diabetes mellitus causes high blood sugar because the body cannot use it properly. It happens because your pancreas does not produce enough insulin.

If anyone has diabetes, it means his/her pancreas is not producing any insulin, or not enough insulin, to help glucose enter the body cells.

Insulin is a hormone that moves sugar from the blood into the body cells to be stored or used for energy.

Types and causes of diabetes

There are two major types of diabetes commonly known as Type 1 and Type 2.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. In this type of disease, the cells in the pancreas, where insulin is produced, are destroyed, leaving the body unable to produce the key hormone.

Although, there are no specific causes of Type 1 diabetes, but viral or bacterial infection, chemical toxins within the food, unidentified components causing an autoimmune reaction and genetic disposition may trigger this type of diabetes.

The causes of Type 2 are multifactorial. The most likely cause is the history of the family with this type of diabetes.

Obesity, inactive lifestyle, increasing age, bad diet, pregnancy and illness are the risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body becomes resistant to insulin, and sugar builds up in your blood.

Symptoms of diabetes

Following are the common symptoms of diabetes

• Increased hunger.
• Increased thirst.
• Increased urination. Going to the toilet a lot, especially at night.
• Feeling more tired than usual.
• Losing weight or unintentional weight loss.
• Cuts and wounds that take longer to heal.
• Blurred vision.

Currently, there is no cure for diabetes, however, learning about the condition and effectively managing it will help you live an enjoyable life.