What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a group of diseases that exhibits high levels of glucose in the blood, called blood sugar, which is a result of defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both.
Diabetes Types:
- Type 1 diabetes: usually strikes children and young adults, although disease onset can occur at any age. Type 1 diabetes accounts for 5% to 10% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.
- Type 2 diabetes: is the most common form, accounting for 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. It is also strongly associated with obesity and physical inactivity and is typically related with increasing age.
- Gestational diabetes: occurs in 4% to 7% of pregnant women and is one of the most common medical complications of pregnancy. It can affect both the mother and the baby. Women who have had gestational diabetes have a 20% to 50% chance of developing diabetes in the next 5 to 10 years.
- Pre-diabetes: is a condition in which a person’s blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. There are about 41 million Americans who have pre-diabetes
