Diabetes (diabetes mellitus) is a complicated condition and there are many different types of diabetes. Here we’ll take you through everything you need to know.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a serious condition where your blood glucose level is too high. It can happen when your body doesn’t produce enough insulin or the insulin it produces isn’t effective. Or, when your body can’t produce any insulin at all.
Types of diabetes
There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2.
When you’ve got type 1 diabetes, you can’t make any insulin at all. If you’ve got type 2 diabetes, it’s a bit different. The insulin you make either can’t work effectively, or you can’t produce enough of it. They’re different conditions, but they’re both serious.
Other types of diabetes include gestational diabetes, which some women may go on to develop during pregnancy. And there are many other rarer types of diabetes such as type 3c and Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA) too. In all types of diabetes, glucose can’t get into your cells properly, so it begins to build up in your blood. And too much glucose in your blood causes a lot of different problems.
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Common diabetes symptoms
Going to the toilet a lot, especially at night. Being really thirsty. Feeling more tired than usual. Losing weight without trying to. Genital itching or thrush. Cuts and wounds take longer to heal. Blurred eyesight Increased hunger.
Effective diabetes care can only be achieved through working closely with your diabetes healthcare team – they are there to support you in self-managing your diabetes. The most important person in the team is you – because the decisions made will affect you. Taking responsibility for your diabetes will enable you to manage your diabetes more effectively. Ask questions and request more information if you need to.
