Sufferers with diabetes have a condition that creates a problem with how their body produces energy for food. We must all have glucose to provide us with sufficient energy to carry out everyday tasks. This glucose is our primary source of fuel but the condition of diabetes means that the glucose does not travel around the body properly. If this glucose remains in the blood and is not absorbed in to the body as it needs to, abnormally high levels of blood glucose or high blood sugar levels as it is also known as, occur.

If you do not know much about this problem, there is some basic information below. In type 1, which is also called juvenile onset diabetes or insulin-dependent where the body completely stops producing any insulin; this results in the diabetic requiring an insulin injection every day to stay healthy and alive. Without insulin the glucose cannot be used by the body to be converted into energy. Type two affects adults and is sometimes called late onset diabetes; this type happens when not enough insulin is being produced or it isn't being used properly, but it can normally be treated through diet.

Our body needs energy which it obtains from food that it converts into sugar like bread, potatoes, rice and pasta etc. Having high levels of glucose in your blood that is not entering the cells will over long periods, cause a number of serious conditions including blindness, amputations, heart and kidney conditions. However, it is possible to manage diabetes by maintaining a strict health regime; some of the possible conditions will be halted completely whilst others will be delayed. To manage your condition well, ensure you take your medication; this means maintaining the correct level of blood sugar, cholesterol and blood fat along with giving up cigarettes.

You will also need to maintain your weight, and maintain your blood pressure to within the guidelines set by your doctor. Once you have been diagnosed with diabetes, you will have it for life; in America there are more than five and a half million recognized sufferers. Studies suggest that it is not the whole story as experts believe there are as many people again that have the disease that have not yet been diagnosed; each year there are over six hundred thousand new cases. Official figures show that diabetes causes the death of over thirty four thousand people in America every year but deaths from citizens that have the condition but do not die directly from it is about 320,000.