What Is Diabetes?
Some call it "sugar"—just not in the same way you would call your loved one. In medicine, this sugar is called glucose.
Glucose needs a home.
- The body...
- Forms glucose by breaking down food
- Sends glucose to the body's cells.
- Like a house, in order to enter, glucose needs a key to each cell door.
- The Key is insulin
- The pancreas is the key maker & it sends insulin through the bloodstream.
- The pancreas either:
- Type I Diabetes= cannot make insulin at all
- Type II Diabetes= one of the following...
- Cannot make enough insulin
- Cells ignore insulin
- Gestational Diabetes= During pregnancy, some women need extra insulin (up to 3x more)