Someone who is addicted to sugar or sweets is not necessarily a diabetic. Diabetes is a serious illness brought about by a person's genetic disposition: his likelihood to develop a pancreatic disease. If your family is prone to the disease, read this article to detect the symptoms of diabetes as early as possible.

Type I Diabetes

Type I is known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). It is less common in the US though is the most severe and usually develops within a few days or weeks. In IDDM, the lack of insulin stems from destruction of the beta cells. The symptoms associated with IDDM are so distinct that they rarely leave any doubt of the diagnosis. They are as follows:

Polyuria: Urinating frequently and in large amounts is a classic symptom of diabetes, as the body rushes fluids through the kidney to dilute the high levels of sugar in the urine.

Polydipsia: An unusual thirst is a natural result of too frequent urination: the body is signaling for lost fluids to be replaced. Dehydration will eventually occur if the condition is not caught early.

Polyphagia: This feeling of extreme hunger stems from the body's belief that it is starving because glucose is not reaching its cells to provide desperately needed energy.

Rapid Weight Loss: Most Type I patients are at or below their ideal weight. When IDDM begins, they may suddenly lose more weight-as much as 15 pounds in a week-even though they may be eating more than enough and have a good appetite. The lack of insulin means that calories, in the form of glucose, are being sent out through the urine and the body is beginning to burn fat reserves.

Weakness: Since muscle cells are not receiving their usual fuel, energy flags. Of course, fatigue can have many causes, which is why diabetes can go unrecognized for so long. Be concerned if a once active child seems tired, drowsy, or listless for no apparent reason. Some children may also complain of stomach, leg, or chest pains, or have difficulty breathing.

Irritability: In youngsters, crankiness, confusion or excessive crying may warn of impending illness. A child may seem to be inattentive or may not be doing as well in school as before.

Nausea and/or Vomiting: These symptoms may precede ketoacidosis, as poisonous ketone acids build up in the blood when the body must resort to burning fat deposits for energy.

Blurred Vision: Excess glucose may be seeping into the eye, changing the shape of the lens. Difficulty in focusing or changes in eyesight from one day to the next-such as from nearsighted to normal vision-are other visual cues for possible diabetes.

TYPE II

Type II, or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), makes up the majority of diabetes cases, estimated that about 13 million people in the US. Unlike Type I, Type II progresses more slowly. It can creep along unnoticed for years. Symptoms may appear gradually, becoming more intense or frequent with age.

See your doctor as soon as you observe any of the following:

Any of Type II symptoms

Tingling or Numbness in Legs, Feet, or Fingers: Or you may have a burning sensation or heightened sensitivity in these extremities or on other spots on your skin. Symptoms, such as leg cramps, may appear or worsen only at night. Again, these may be signs that circulation is poor or that nerve damage is already progressing.

Frequent Infections: Diabetes weakens the body's defenses against invasions of bacteria. Infections of the gums, urinary tract, or skin that keep recurring or take a long time to clear up show that the disease may have begun interfering with the immune system.

Itching of Skin or Genitals: This may be the result of an underlying infection or dehydration, a common by-product of diabetes.

Slow Healing of Cuts and Bruises: Because diabetes affects how cells use the nutrients obtained from food, the body may have difficulty repairing damaged tissue. Diabetes also thickens blood vessels, slowing circulation and preventing wounds from receiving, through the blood, these needed nutrients and oxygen.

Unfortunately, too many of these symptoms can be overlooked or blamed on other conditions. Make sure to have your blood sugar level checked yearly, at the very least, and more frequently if there are manifestations of any of the symptoms above.

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There are three types of diabetes. These include type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. What causes diabetes is different for each of these types. In a healthy persons' body, glucose is released by the pancreas in small amounts proportional to what you eat.

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an immune system disorder. With type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system will actually attack and destroy the insulin producing cells that are present in the pancreas, thereby causing diabetes. This causes a person's body to become deficient in glucose. Type 1 diabetes is generally treated with insulin injections or insulin inhalers. This type of diabetes is also known as 'juvenile' diabetes because it generally strikes when the patient is young.

Type 2 Diabetes

The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, as mentioned above, is an autoimmune disorder while type 2 diabetes is associated with inactivity and obesity. Type 2 diabetes accounts for around 95% of all cases of diabetes in the United States.

When a person has type 2 diabetes their pancreas ceases to produce insulin or it produces it in very small doses. In certain cases individuals with type 2 diabetes may also be affected by insulin resistance. When this happens, glucose that is produced by the pancreas builds up in the blood and is not recognized and absorbed by the patient's body, causing this type of diabetes.

There are many risk factors that a person can have which increases their risk and may a cause of diabetes. These risks include obesity, inactive lifestyle, high-fat diet, high alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, ethnicity (certain ethnic groups are more prone to diabetes than others), age, and developing gestational diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes may be treated with insulin, diabetes oral medication, and diet and exercise. In many cases a patient will be treated with a combination of these methods. Typically, type 2 diabetes can be controlled to a certain degree with diet and exercise.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes occurs in around 4% of women who are pregnant. Due to the hormones released, during a pregnancy a woman may experience higher glucose levels. If a woman's pancreas cannot accommodate these changes, it will cause diabetes.

Some of the risk factors for gestation diabetes include being overweight when becoming pregnant, having a family history of diabetes, being a member of a high-risk ethnic group, previously being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, having glucose in your urine, and previously giving birth to a baby over 9 pounds or a stillborn baby.

Diabetes is a very debilitating disease that can destroy people's lives and cause early death. There are two main types of diabetes as well as gestational diabetes. Unfortunately individuals that are afflicted with type 1 diabetes (juvenile diabetes) are victims of an autoimmune disease that does not seem preventable, although there are theories and research currently underway on this subject.

The Prevention of type 2 Diabetes

Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes is preventable. First of all, early detection of diabetes can be a key factor in diabetes prevention. If you have a family history of diabetes doctors recommend that you get screened starting at age 30 for type 2 diabetes. Prevention of type 2 diabetes falls into two general categories. These categories include lifestyle and medications.

By changing their lifestyle, diabetes prevention is possible in most cases. There are risk factors that cannot be reduced such as age, ethnic background, and family history, but these risks are far outweighed by the lifestyle activities that can be changed. Some of these include:

Obesity - If you are overweight or obese you can reduce your risk of acquiring diabetes by reducing your weight. This can be done by improving your diet and starting an exercise regimen.

High Blood Pressure - High blood pressure is a leading risk factor for developing diabetes. This can be reduced as obesity can by improving diet and exercising. It can also be reduced by quitting smoking and drinking alcohol. Medication (discussed later in this article) can also help to reduce your blood pressure.

Sedentary Lifestyle - This is a factor that can lead to the factors listed above, but deserves its own paragraph because it's so important. By increasing your daily physical activity levels you can reduce your chances for getting type 2 diabetes.

High Fat Diet and High Blood Fat Levels - These two risk factors are obviously connected. By reducing your fat intake you can thereby reduce your body's blood fat (triglyceride) levels. This will aid in diabetes prevention.

Diabetes Prevention Medications

There is evidence now that certain medications can help to prevent diabetes, not just treat it. One medication (Glucophage) has been shown to reduce a person's chance of acquiring diabetes by 31%. Diet medications have also been shown to assist with diabetes prevention, although this is most likely due to the medication's reduction of other risk factors such as obesity.

Gestational diabetes cannot generally be treated with medications, however by reducing certain risk factors (most notably obesity); a person can reduce their chances for acquiring this illness.

Your pancreas makes insulin to help lower your blood sugar. The sugar in your blood comes from your food. When you eat, the food is broken down into sugars and enters your bloodstream.

Insulin acts like a key to "unlock" the body's cells and allow sugar to pass from the bloodstream into the cells. Your cells then use the sugar for fuel, much like a car uses gas. Without enough insulin, sugar can build up in your bloodstream.

High blood sugar levels can damage your blood vessels and cause serious conditions over a long period of time.