When the food we eat is digested it provides us with energy and growth but the condition called diabetes does not allow this process to work as it should. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. This glucose is our primary source of fuel but the condition of diabetes means that the glucose does not travel around the body properly. If this glucose remains in the blood and is not absorbed in to the body as it needs to, abnormally high levels of blood glucose or high blood sugar levels as it is also known as, occur.

This subject has comprehensive information available on other sites and the information about the condition in this article has been made short to enable easy and quick understanding. Juvenile onset diabetes is called type one and usually, but not always, affects children and young adults and is where the body’s production of insulin has ceased; this means insulin must be given to the diabetic on a daily basis for them to live. Insulin works like a catalyst, enabling the glucose produced by food to be absorbed by the cells and used as energy. Type two affects adults and is sometimes called late onset diabetes; this can be controlled by diet but is caused by problems with the insulin production or its function.

To stay alive we need energy, something which is supplied in abundance by everyday foods like various pastas, bread, potatoes, rice and fruit for instance. Prolonged periods of high blood glucose levels can lead to problems like heart disease, kidney complaints, blindness and even limb amputations. Good diabetes care and management can prevent or delay the onset of these complications; some of the possible conditions will be halted completely whilst others will be delayed. To manage your condition well, ensure you take your medication; giving up smoking, keep you blood glucose and cholesterol levels stable as well as well as other blood fats are just some of the aspects that require special attention.

Your weight and blood pressure also need to be checked regularly and kept within the acceptable limits set by your doctor. The bad news about this is diabetes a life long condition; currently approx 2.6 percent of the U.S. population or about 5.5 million Americans, are known to have this health problem. The problem is that here are probably another 5.5 million people who have this condition but just don’t know it; each year there are over six hundred thousand new cases. It is believed that as many as 320,000 diabetics die each year in America whilst only 34,000 of those actually die directly from the condition itself.