Related MeetingsDiabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a condition in which the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. Glucose comes from the digestion of starchy foods such as bread, rice, potatoes, chapatis, yams and plantain, from sugar and other sweet foods, and from the liver which makes glucose.
Insulin is vital for life. It is a hormone produced by the pancreas, that helps the glucose to enter the cells where it is used as fuel by the body. There are currently over 2.3 million people with diabetes in the UK and there are more than half a million people with diabetes who have the condition and don’t know it.
There are two main types of diabetes. These are:
- Type 1 diabetes - develops if the body is unable to produce any insulin. This type of diabetes usually appears before the age of 40. Type 1 diabetes is the least common of the two main types and accounts for between 5 – 15% of all people with diabetes.
- Type 2 diabetes - develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance). In most cases this is linked with being overweight.
Type 2 diabetes usually appears in people over the age of 40, though in South Asian and African-Caribbean people often appears after the age of 25. However, recently, more children are being diagnosed with the condition, some as young as seven. Type 2 diabetes is the most common of the two main types and accounts for between 85 - 95% of all people with diabetes.
| Latest eCME Activities | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 2min 28sec |
Recent Trials in Type 2 Diabetes
Dr Neil Munro | Released 13/07/2010 | Watch Now |
 8min 22sec |
Prescribing Advisors Perspective
Omar Ali | Released 29/06/2010 | Watch Now |
 4min 33sec |
Advances in Treatments of Type 2 Diabetes
Dr Neil Munro | Released 22/06/2010 | Watch Now |