Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. It use to be called adult onset diabetes but the name was changed because it is now being found in adolescents. There are 500,000 new diagnosed cases each year in just the United States alone and has a higher pre-eminence for minorities.

"Diabetes is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism, usually occurring in genetically predisposed individuals, it is characterized by inadequate production or utilization of insulin and resulting in excessive amounts of glucose in the blood and urine. This can cause excessive thirst, weight loss, and in some cases progressive destruction of small blood vessels leading to such complications as infections and gangrene of the limbs or blindness." (Webster dictionary)

Insulin and Glucagon are both hormones that are secreted by the pancreas that have a great impact on sugar levels in the blood. The hormone Glucagon targets the liver and promotes either glycogenolysis which is the breakdown of glucagon into glucose, or gluconeogenesis which is the synthesis of glucose from lactic acid and non-carbohydrates

The hormone insulin lowers blood glucose levels, enhances the transport of glucose into body cells, and counters metabolic activity that would enhance blood glucose levels. What happens when a person develops diabetes, (since insulin and glucose are both antagonistic to one another) is insulin is either not being produced enough in the body or the cells in the body are not sensitive enough to use the insulin. Which leads to an excessive amount of glucose in the blood. The cells in the body cannot use this glucose without insulin to help break it down, so the cells become "glucose starved" and begin to consume its own protein cells for energy. Also diabetes can lead to obesity because it can have a great effect on metabolism. Diabetes is common among those who are overweight and this may be because an increase of fat cells leads to insulin resistance.

There are many treatments that can help diabetes stay under control. One of treatments are dietary modifications, which can