- Diabetes Mellitus
- Heart Desease
Metabolic diseases
DIABETES MELLITUS
Diabetes mellitus is a condition in which a person has a high blood sugar (glucose) level, either because the body doesn't produce enough insulin, or because body cells don't properly respond to the insulin that is produced. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas which enables body cells to absorb glucose, to turn into energy. If the body cells do not absorb the glucose, the glucose accumulates in the blood (hyperglycemia), leading to vascular, nerve, and other complications.
The most common types are:
• Type 1 diabetes: Type 1 diabetes mellitus is characterized by loss of the insulin-producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas leading to insulin deficiency. This type of diabetes can be further classified as immune-mediated or idiopathic. The majority of type 1 diabetes is of the immune-mediated nature, where beta cell loss is a T-cell mediated autoimmune attack. There is no known preventive measure against type 1 diabetes, can affect children or adults but was traditionally termed "juvenile diabetes" because it represents a majority of the diabetes cases in children.
• Type 2 diabetes: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is characterized by insulin resistance which may be combined with relatively reduced insulin secretion. The defective responsiveness of body tissues to insulin is believed to involve the insulin receptor. However, the specific defects are not known. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type, the predominant abnormality is reduced insulin sensitivity. At this stage hyperglycemia can be reversed by a variety of measures and medications that improve insulin sensitivity or reduce glucose production by the liver. As the disease progresses, the impairment of insulin secretion occurs, and therapeutic replacement of insulin may sometimes become necessary in certain patients.
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