Understanding Diabetes

Diabetes is not just a blood sugar problem, but a group of metabolic diseases marked by high levels of blood glucose resulting from problems in how insulin is produced, how it works, or both. People with diabetes develop serious complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and premature death.

Every cell in the body requires energy in order to function. The body uses glucose, which is a simple sugar, as its primary source of energy. We obtain the glucose from the digestion of foods containing carbohydrates.

Insulin, which is a hormone produced by the beta cells in the pancreas, is the body’s primary mechanism to move glucose into the cell. Insulin achieves this by attaching to a receptor on the outside of the cell. It functions much like a key, to open a channel allowing glucose to enter the cell.

The problem occurs when there is not enough insulin produced, or when the receptor does not respond to insulin and open the channel for glucose. In either case, the level of glucose in the blood remains too high.