
What is diabetes? How diet, lifestyle and even ethnicity can affect DEADLY disease
Diabetes cases are said to have soared by 60 per cent in the last decade, and it now affects over 3 million people in the UK. According to studies undertaken by Diabetes UK, this number will rise to 5 million by 2025.
Worryingly, it is thought that there are 900,000 people in the UK who don’t yet know they already have diabetes. Dr Adam Simon, chief medical officer at PushDoctor.co.uk, has spoken to Express.co.uk about what diabetes is, the difference between the types and how people can avoid it.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease where the level of glucose in the body is too high, either because the hormone Insulin, that allows the body to use the glucose as an energy source, is not produced, or the insulin is not working properly.
Insulin is made in the pancreas which is located in the upper central abdomen. When the body’s glucose level rises, the pancreas makes insulin which allows the glucose to pass into the body’s cells where it can be used as energy.
Food is broken down in the intestine into fats, proteins and glucose. Glucose is our main energy source and our bodies normally keep glucose levels carefully controlled. When the glucose level falls between meals, insulin production falls and this keeps the glucose level in the blood balanced.
Explain the difference between Type 1 and Type 2
There are two main types of diabetes Type 1 and Type 2. Eighty five per cent of people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes and 15 per cent have Type 1.
Type 1: This tends to occur in children and young adults. In this case the body stops making insulin. The body cells can
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