Diabetes is a life-threatening condition in which the body loses its ability to turn glucose (sugar) from food into energy. The hormone, Insulin, regulates the level of glucose absorbed into the bloodstream. People with diabetes either produce too much or too little Insulin resulting in abrupt swings in blood sugar levels.

Type 1 diabetes occurs most often in children and young adults as the disease is most often inherent. The disease enables the body from producing any insulin, therefore Type 1 diabetics are stricken to a life time of daily insulin injections. Type 1 diabetes accounts for 5 to 10 percent of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, is a metabolic disorder resulting from the body's inability to make enough, or properly use insulin.

Diabetes is not curable but it is manageable. In people with Type 2 diabetes, glucose (sugar) builds up in the blood. Your blood sugar levels may go down to normal again with appropriate treatment, however, you are not cured of the disease. Instead, a blood sugar level in your target range shows that your treatment plan is working and that you are taking care of your diabetes.

The aim of treatment is to keep blood glucose levels as close to normal levels as safely as possible without causing low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Low blood sugar levels may result from a change in the content or timing of meals, or from increased physical activity, or from over treatment. Type 1 is usually treated with daily insulin injections as well as dietary control and regular blood glucose testing. Insulin mimics the body's own production of the natural hormone.

Anyone aged 45 years or older should consider getting tested for diabetes, especially if you are overweight. If you are younger than 45, but are overweight and have one or more additional risk factors (see below), you should consider testing.

People with blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet in the diabetic range have "pre-diabetes." Doctors sometimes call this condition impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), depending on the test used to diagnose it. Insulin resistance and pre-diabetes usually have no symptoms. You may have one or both conditions for several years without noticing anything. If you have pre-diabetes, you have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

People who think they might have diabetes must visit a physician for diagnosis. They might have SOME or NONE of the following symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, or stomach pains may accompany some of these symptoms in the abrupt onset of insulin-dependent diabetes, now called type 1 diabetes.

The following information on treatments for diabetes is from the National Diabetes Fact Sheet: National estimates and general information on diabetes in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, 1997): Diabetes knowledge, treatment, and prevention strategies advance daily. Treatment is aimed at keeping blood glucose near normal levels at all times. Training in self-management is integral to the treatment of diabetes.

A number of studies have shown that regular physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It also appears to be associated with obesity. Researchers are making progress in identifying the exact genetics and "triggers" that predispose some individuals to develop type 1 diabetes, but prevention, as well as a cure, remains elusive.

In response to the growing health burden of diabetes mellitus (diabetes), the diabetes community has three choices: prevent diabetes; cure diabetes; and take better care of people with diabetes to prevent devastating complications. All three approaches are actively being pursued by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are involved in prevention activities.