Insulin is a hormone produced by cells in the pancreas. This hormone is integral to controlling glucose levels in the blood. Glucose levels in the blood are sometimes referred to as “blood sugar levels.” When insulin levels in the body are off balance, then it results in one of the collection of syndromes known as diabetes mellitus, or just diabetes for short. There are several different main types of diabetes, and each is the result of a different insulin issue.
The most common type of diabetes today is Type II diabetes. In those people suffering from Type II diabetes, the pancreas is producing insulin, but the body cannot process it or respond to it as it should normally do. Sometimes the levels of insulin are normal, and the body is just resistant. Other times, the levels are too low, even though the hormone is present in the blood. Type II diabetes can develop at any stage in life, and is becoming more and more prevalent in children. Type II diabetes can be treated by changes in diet and lifestyle and sometimes with medications.
Type One diabetes is different. When someone has Type One diabetes, their pancreases lose their ability to produce insulin. Type One diabetes is considered an autoimmune disorder because the body turns on itself, with the immune system attacking the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin and destroying them. Type One diabetes is treated with insulin injections or shots, or sometimes with an insulin pump. There is no cure for it.
The third common type of diabetes is gestational diabetes. This type develops in pregnant women that are not otherwise diabetic. Once the baby is born, the diabetes often goes away on its own, though it does leave these women at increased risk for Type II diabetes later in life.