Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Images
Diabetes is a chronic (lifelong) disease marked by high levels of sugar in the blood.
See also:
Gestational diabetes Metabolic syndrome Type 1 diabetes Type 2 diabetes
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to control blood sugar. Diabetes can be caused by too little insulin, resistance to insulin, or both.
To understand diabetes, it is important to first understand the normal process by which food is broken down and used by the body for energy. Several things happen when food is digested:
Images
Review Date: 05/10/2010
Reviewed By: Ari S. Eckman, MD, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Review provided by
VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA,
Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
