Diabetes is a disease that affects your body’s ability to use glucose. Your body uses glucose to provide energy to all of its cells. Food that is consumed is broken down into glucose, a simple sugar, which is then distributed through the bloodstream. The body keeps a constant supply of glucose for cells by maintaining a constant concentration of glucose in the blood. An oversupply of this substance is stored in the liver and the muscles in the form of glycogen. When the body has a short supply of glucose, the liver mobilizes the stored glycogen.

            The body depends on glycogen and insulin to maintain a constant blood-glucose level. Diabetes is a deficiency in insulin, the peptide hormone that is responsible for enabling glucose to enter the body’s cells and be converted into energy and heat. As a result, the glucose builds up outside of the cells, thus accumulating in the blood. This excess of glucose eventually exits the cells by means of urination.

            Type 2 Diabetes is the most common form of diabetes.  With this from of diabetes a person’s cells no longer respond to the insulin.  Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar, and sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells.  When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into the cells two things can occur.  Immediately your cells may just be starved for energy, but over time, high blood glucose levels may hurt your eyes, kidneys, nerves and heart. Some initial symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes are: thirst, hunger, excessive urine and extreme exhaustion.

Meal planning, exercise, regular contact with doctors, and certain medications can be used to control type 2 Diabetes. Although there is no cure for diabetes, the disease can be treated and managed successfully to where life is pretty normal for effected individuals. The key to treatment is close monitoring and awareness of blood-glucose levels.  Losing weight can be another big part of diabetes treatment.  By loosing weight your body can use insulin more effectively.