What Is Diabetes?

 

Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism—the way our bodies use digested food for growth and energy. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body.

After digestion, glucose passes into the bloodstream, where it is used by cells for growth and energy. For glucose to get into cells, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach.

When we eat, the pancreas automatically produces the right amount of insulin to move glucose from blood into our cells. In people with diabetes, however, the pancreas either produces little or no insulin, or the cells do not respond appropriately to the insulin that is produced. Glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body in the urine. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel even though the blood contains large amounts of glucose.

 

Latest Diabetes Topics News
French drug regulator searched in Mediator case

February 2, 2012 — PARIS (Reuters) - Investigators searched the offices of French healthcare regulator Afssaps on Thursday in connection with a case involving the anti-diabetes drug Mediator, which officials blame for at least 500 deaths in France.

Ulcer-causing bug tied to higher diabetes risk

February 2, 2012 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who have been infected with the ulcer-causing bacteria Helicobacter pylori are more than twice as likely to develop diabetes later on as people who do not have signs of the infection, according to a new study of Latino adults in California.

"Yo-yo dieting" not tied to early death: study

February 2, 2012 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite earlier concerns, dieters who repeatedly lose weight and then gain it back aren't at higher risk of early death than people who don't "yo-yo diet," according to a new report.

Select news items provided by Reuters Health