Diabetes There are two types of diabetes, type I and type II.
The first type usually develops early in life, more commonly before the age of 20.
Type I results when your body's immune system accidentally targets the pancreas, the organ responsible for releasing the hormones insulin and glucagon.
These hormones regulate your blood glucose levels.
The immune system specifically targets the Beta cells of the pancreas, which are the ones that create insulin.
Without insulin, your body is unable to regulate blood glucose levels, eventually leading to severe complications such as acute ketoacidosis, coma, and possibly death.
On the other hand, Type II diabetes develops later in life, usually in people over 30 years of age.
Unlike those with Type I, you do not have a dysfunctional immune system destroying your pancreas.
Instead, you develop pancreatic damage because of insulin resistance.
Even though you might be producing normal levels of insulin, your body is acting as if it is not getting a sufficient amount.
Essentially, the normal cyclical nature of insulin secretion by the Beta cells is lost, while your various body tissues stop responding to the insulin.
These two factors lead to hyperglycemia, a state in which your body has abnormally elevated blood glucose levels after meals and throughout the day.
Over time, hyperglycemia causes the Beta cells to stop functioning and die out, leading to the eventual need for exogenous insulin shots.
Diabetes can cause a range of problems: microangiopathy, retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy, which are the medical terms for small vessel, retinal, kidney, and nerve damage, respectively.
Chronically, elevated glucose levels cause this damage.
The extra glucose in the blood binds to proteins within your body by a process called non-enzymatic glycosylation.
This process becomes irreversible and slowly worsens over time, trapping harmful compounds inside your blood vessels, leading to even further damage.
Like hypertension, diabetes can bring about a debilitating cycle when combined with obesity.
As weight gain worsens, insulin resistance continues to increase, promoting a debilitating cycle.
You can halt and reverse diabetes and weight gain progression with simple changes in your diet and lifestyle.
Key Points: Diabetes oObesity and simple sugar foods cause insulin resistance.
oInsulin resistance leads to Type II.
oObesity and Type II Diabetes have a strong connection.
oDiabetes causes damage in many tissues.