It’s pretty much common knowledge that there are three types of diabetes (Type I, Type II, and gestational) but there is a recent addition to the family, a condition known as “pre-diabetes”. Pre-diabetes is also known as impaired glucose tolerance, meaning that a person’s blood glucose level is elevated, but not elevated enough to be defined as diabetes. It can, however, progress into a full-blown diagnosis of Type II diabetes later if one’s glucose level isn’t closely monitored. The good news is that pre-diabetes can be kept under control by watching one’s weight, exercising, and eating the right foods.
Let’s talk about the rest of the family:
Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy when the mother cannot make a sustainable amount of insulin, and her blood glucose level is elevated. The mother typically undergoes dietary changes and insulin therapy, with both mother and child being closely monitored to ensure that both remain healthy even after the baby has been born. Even though gestational diabetes disappears after the baby is born, the episode does make the mother more susceptible to developing Type II diabetes as she gets older.
Type I diabetes usually shows up when a person is a young adult or a child. It is characterized by little or no insulin production by the pancreas, which is due to the cells in the pancreas being attacked by the body’s immune system in response to either a genetic condition or a virus.
Type II diabetes differs from Type I in that with Type II diabetes, the body produces insulin but either the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or the body doesn’t know how to properly use it. Type II diabetes accounts for about 90% of all diabetes cases. Age and hereditary both play a part in developing Type II diabetes, however, so as one ages and if one has a parent or a sibling with diabetes it becomes even more important to be aware of one’s glucose levels.
The short descriptions of the types of diabetes here are intended as a quick reference.
Living with Diabetes 