So what is Diabetes and what causes it?

Diabetes is caused by a high and deadly level of glucose within the blood due to a malfunction of the pancreas. One of the main jobs of the pancreas is to monitor glucose levels and to remove or add it to the blood stream if it is necessary. When someone suffers diabetes it is commonly caused by this malfunction and the blood sugar level can become dangerously high and may be deadly.

There are two types of diabetes:

Type 1 is caused by the cells in the pancreas that produces insulin (hormone used to control blood sugar levels) are destroyed therefore leading to a lack of insulin to control the blood sugar which may lead it to fatal levels . It is believed to be autoimmune reaction which leads to the body attacking it’s own cells. There are no proven causes to why this happens as no claimed causes are proven.

Type 2 is when the receptors that are supposed to react to insulin and control the blood sugar levels fail to be stimulated. More and more insulin may be produced as a response to the body and this may lead to exhaustion of the cells which produce insulin within the pancreas. The cause of this may be due to the hormone insulin being abnormal and therefore the receptors cannot respond to it.

How is diabetes controlled?

Diabetes can fortunately be controlled by regular injections of human insulin to take over the job of the pancreas. The insulin will then trigger the receptors and the body will then react and control the glucose levels within the blood effectively. A low glucose diet is also recommended to people who suffer with diabetes in order to need less work from the pancreas and to be less reliant upon insulin.

Stem cell research opens a idea of a possible cure for diabetes in the future. This is done by the cells being specialized into insulin producing cells and to replace the faulty ones within the pancreas. Moral and ethical issues surround the subject but it seems possible that this research may begin and could bring a lot of possibilities to those who suffer from this disease.

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