What are the types of diabetes?
The three main types of diabetes are
- type 1 diabetes
- type 2 diabetes
- gestational diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. An
autoimmune disease results when the body's system for fighting infection
(the immune system) turns against a part of the body. In diabetes, the
immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and
destroys them. The pancreas then produces little or no insulin. A person who
has type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to live.
At present, scientists do not know exactly
what causes the body's immune system to attack the beta cells, but they
believe that autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors, possibly
viruses, are involved. Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 5 to 10 percent of
diagnosed diabetes in the United States. It develops most often in children
and young adults, but can appear at any age.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes usually develop
over a short period, although beta cell destruction can begin years earlier.
Symptoms include increased thirst and urination, constant hunger, weight
loss, blurred vision, and extreme fatigue. If not diagnosed and treated with
insulin, a person with type 1 diabetes can lapse into a life-threatening
diabetic coma, also known as diabetic ketoacidosis.
Type 2 Diabetes
The most common form of diabetes is type 2
diabetes. About 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2. This
form of diabetes is associated with older age, obesity, family history of
diabetes, previous history of gestational diabetes, physical inactivity, and
ethnicity. About 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight.
Type 2 diabetes is increasingly being
diagnosed in children and adolescents. However, nationally representative
data on prevalence of type 2 diabetes in youth are not available.
When type 2 diabetes is diagnosed, the
pancreas is usually producing enough insulin, but for unknown reasons, the
body cannot use the insulin effectively, a condition called insulin
resistance. After several years, insulin production decreases. The result is
the same as for type 1 diabetes--glucose builds up in the blood and the body
cannot make efficient use of its main source of fuel.
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes develop
gradually. Their onset is not as sudden as in type 1 diabetes. Symptoms may
include fatigue or nausea, frequent urination, unusual thirst, weight loss,
blurred vision, frequent infections, and slow healing of wounds or sores.
Some people have no symptoms.
Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes develops only during
pregnancy. Like type 2 diabetes, it occurs more often in African Americans,
American Indians, Hispanic Americans, and among women with a family history
of diabetes. Women who have had gestational diabetes have a 20 to 50 percent
chance of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years.
FROM -
NDIC
