Diabetes

In the United States, diabetes is estimated to cost about 98 billion dollars.  The statistics worldwide can even be more staggering.  In the United States, it is the third major cause of death after cancer and heart disease.  This is a metabolic disease that is caused by insufficient or defective production of insulin, or the inability of the tissues to efficiently and properly use insulin, leading to hyperglycemia and diabetes.

Hyperglycemia affects most of the fells in the muscle and fat tissues, which leads to a condition called “insulin resistance”.  This problem is the primary condition in Type 2 diabetes.  In Type 1, there is an absolute lack of insulin which is next to a process that destroys the insulin producing cells in the pancreas.  There is also a consistent decline in the beta cells which increases the glucose levels further.  

When one is insulin resistant, the body can increase the insulin production which can help overcome the resistance at a certain degree.  In the event that the insulin  can no longer be vigorously released due to the reduced production, hyperglycemia could develop.  A simple sugar that is contained in the food that we eat is called glucose.  This is the essential nutrient which provides the body’s energy requirement to made the body’s cells properly function.  

Carbohydrates are broken into its simplest form in the small intestine, while the glucose that is in the digested food are absorbed by the intestine’s cells to be distributed to the bloodstream.  Insulin is needed to aid the transport of the glucose to the cells.  In people with diabetes, the cells get starved of glucose energy despite the abundant glucose in the bloodstream.