Diabetes

Diabetes
Diabetes was one of the first diseases described, with an Egyptian manuscript from c. 1500 BCE  The first described cases are believed to be of type 1 diabetes  Indian physicians around thesame time identified the disease and classified it as "honey urine", noting the urine would attract ants. The disease was considered as rare during the time of the Roman empire, with Galen commentinghe had only seen two cases during his career. This is possibly due the diet and life-style of the ancient people, or because the clinical symptoms were observed during the advanced stage of thedisease.
Diabetes mellitus, or simply diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or because cells donot respond to the insulin that is produced. This high blood sugar produces the classical symptoms of polyuria
There are three main types of diabetes mellitus (DM).
* Type 1 DM results from thebody's failure to produce insulin, and presently requires the person to inject insulin or wear an insulin pump. This form was previously referred to as "insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus" (IDDM) or"juvenile diabetes".
* Type 2 DM results from insulin resistance, a condition in which cells fail to use insulin properly, sometimes combined with an absolute insulin deficiency. This form waspreviously referred to as non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or "adult-onset diabetes".
* The third main form, gestational diabetes occurs when pregnant women without a previous diagnosisof diabetes develop a high blood glucose level. It may precede development of type 2 DM.
* Other types
* Prediabetes indicates a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels arehigher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 DM. Many people destined to develop type 2 DM spend many years in a state of prediabetes which has been termed "America's largest...