What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic condition that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
Hyperglycaemia and other related disturbances in the body’s metabolism can lead to serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
There are two basic forms of diabetes:
Type 1: people with this type of diabetes produce very little or no insulin.
Type 2: people with this type of diabetes cannot use insulin effectively.
Most people with diabetes have type 2.
A third type of diabetes, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM),
develops during some cases of pregnancy but usually disappears after pregnancy.
People with type 1 diabetes require daily injections of insulin to survive.
People with type 2 diabetes can sometimes manage their condition with
lifestyle measures alone, but oral drugs are often required, and less frequently insulin, in order to achieve good metabolic control.
Common symptoms of type 1 diabetes include: excessive thirst; constant hunger; excessive urination; weight loss for no reason; rapid, hard breathing; vision changes; drowsiness or exhaustion. These symptoms may occur suddenly.