About diabetes

Diabetes mellitus (more commonly known simply as Diabetes) is a condition in which the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. Glucose comes from the digestion of starchy foods such as bread, rice, potatoes, chapatis, yams and from sugar and other sweet foods. It is also found in the liver which makes glucose.

Insulin is essential for life. It is a hormone produced by the pancreas, that helps the glucose to enter the cells where it is used as fuel by the body.

Categorising Diabetes

Diabetes is split into two main groups. These are:

Type 1 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes

Type 1

Type 1 diabetes develops when the body is unable to produce any insulin. This type of diabetes usually appears before the age of 40. It is the least common of the two main types and accounts for only about 5 - 15% of all people with diabetes.

Type 2

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced doesn't work properly (we call this insulin resistance). In the majority of cases this is linked with being overweight. This type of diabetes usually appears in people over the age of 40. The exception to this can be with South Asian and African-Caribbean people where it often appears after the age of 25. However, recently, more children are being diagnosed with the condition. Type 2 diabetes is the most common of the two main types and accounts for between 85 - 95% of all people with diabetes.

There are currently over 2 million people with diabetes in the UK and there are up to another 750,000 people with diabetes who have the condition and don't know it.