There are two main types of diabetes mellitus.

Type I diabetes (also called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, or IDDM) occurs when the insulin-producing cells in the body do not function, and they make little or no insulin. If the body does not even produce insulin, the glucose cannot move into the cells. To stay alive, the majority of these people will have to depend on insulin injections for the rest of their lives. Type I is the much less common form of diabetes - only about 10-20 percent of all diabetics are insulin dependent. This kind of diabetes usually begins in childhood or youth.

Type II diabetes (also called non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, or NIDDM) most often begins in overweight adults who are over the age of 40. With Type II diabetes, the pancreas does still produce some insulin. In some cases, the body is not simply making enough insulin. In other cases, however, the body may be making an adequste amount of insulin, but insulin is no longer effective because the cells insulin receptors - the “locks” - are jammed. The pancreas may try to remedy the situation by producing more and more insulin. But if the receptors don’t work, even this may not help.

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Diabetes Mellitus or simply Diabetes is a lifelong disease in which a person’s body either does not produce enough insulin or cannot make proper use of the insulin which it does produce.

Insulin is a hormone - a chemical which helps to regulate and control certain body functions. Insulin is made by the pancreas, which is a small endocrine gland located just below the stomach. In the pancreas, special beta cells in the areas called the islets of Langerhans secrete insulin directly into the bloodstream. There insulin works to control the amount of glucose in the blood.

Glucose is really just sugar. When your body digests the foods you eat, it changes the carbohydrates (as well as some of the proteins and fats) into glucose. Glucose is your source of energy - the fuel for your body. And glucose is the nourishment for the various cells in the body.

If your body had no insulin - no way of controlling the amount of glucose in the blood, you would be in serious trouble. All the glucose from your dinner would stay in the bloodstream, your blood glucose level would be extremely high after meals, and you would feel very sick. You could even become unconscious. The body cannot cope with such an overload of sugar in the blood all at one time. You would have the condition called hyperglycemia (hyper=excessive; glyc=sugar; emia=blood).

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