Publisher's Synopsis
Diabetes Mellitus ("diabetes" for short) is a serious disease that occurs when the human body has difficulty in properly regulating the amount of dissolved sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream. It is unrelated to a similarly named disorder "Diabetes Insipidus" which involves kidney-related fluid retention problems.In order to understand diabetes, it is necessary to first understand the role glucose plays with regard to the body, and what can happen when regulation of glucose fails and blood sugar levels become dangerously low or high.The tissues and cells that make up the human body are living things, and require food to stay alive. The food cells eat is a type of sugar called glucose. Fixed in place as they are, the body's cells are completely dependent on the bloodstream in which they are bathed to bring glucose to them. Without access to adequate glucose, the body's cells have nothing to fuel themselves with and soon die.Human beings eat food, not glucose. Human foods get converted into glucose as a part of the normal digestion process. Once converted, glucose enters the bloodstream, causing the level of dissolved glucose inside the blood to rise. The bloodstream then carries the dissolved glucose to the various tissues and cells of the body.Though glucose may be available in the blood, nearby cells are not able to access that glucose without the aid of a chemical hormone called insulin. Insulin acts as a key to open the cells, allowing them to receive and utilize available glucose. Cells absorb glucose from the blood in the presence of insulin, and blood sugar levels drop as sugar leaves the blood and enters the cells. Insulin can be thought of as a bridge for glucose between the bloodstream and cells. It is important to understand when levels of insulin increase, levels of sugar in the blood decrease (because the sugar goes into the cells to be used for energy).The body is designed to regulate and buffer the amount of glucose dissolved in the blood to maintain a steady supply to meet cell needs. The pancreas, one of the body's many organs, produces, stores and releases insulin into the bloodstream to bring glucose levels back down.
