What Causes Diabetes?
To answer the question "what causes diabetes" you need to know what type of diabetes you have.
Diabetes is a condition where the body is unable to regulate the level of glucose (a sugar) in the blood, resulting in too much glucose being present in the blood.
However there are 3 main types of diabetes:
- Type 1 Diabetes (also known as Juvenile Onset Diabetes),
- Type 2 Diabetes (also known as Mature Onset Diabetes), and,
- Gestational Diabetes (occurs during pregnancy)
While each one comes about for the same reason, the bodies inability to regulate the level of glucose, however the cause of the bodies inability to regulate the level of glucose is somewhat different with each.
Glucose is a sugar that comes from the foods that we eat and the liquids that we drink. Breads, cereals, dairy foods (such as milk), fruits, and some vegetables that contain carbohydrate in the forms of starches and sugars.
When these foods are consumed, they are broken down in our digestive tract and absorbed into the blood stream as glucose.
If an excess of glucose occurs in the blood, then the excess is processed by the liver where it is converted into a form where it can be stored for future use.
The blood glucose level is regulated by insulin, a hormone made in the islet cells in the pancreas. Insulin enables the body's cells to absorb and use glucose. Without sufficient levels of insulin, glucose from the blood in not able to enter the body’s cells, and it therefore cannot be used as a fuel to support their continued function.
Diabetes occurs when there is too much glucose in the blood. Or, to be more precise, diabetes occurs when the body is unable to regulate the level of glucose in the blood, resulting in too much glucose being present.
For more information on 3 main types of diabetes including symptoms and management:
- Type 1 Diabetes (also known as Juvenile Onset Diabetes),
- Type 2 Diabetes (also known as Mature Onset Diabetes), and,
- Gestational Diabetes (occurs during pregnancy)