There are many different types of diabetes, but all have one thing in common — your body is unable to regulate glucose levels in your blood. There are two main types of the condition:
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which your pancreas doesn’t produce enough (or any) insulin, the hormone needed to regulate your blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes is also called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes
This type of diabetes develops when your body becomes insulin-resistant and you’re unable to produce enough to regulate your blood sugar levels. This type of the disease use to primarily affect adults, but now more children are developing type 2 diabetes, largely because of obesity.
No matter the type of this disease, the complications that can develop as a result of unregulated glucose are very serious, even life-threatening, and include:
- Heart disease
- Heart attack or stroke
- Neuropathy (nerve damage)
- Vision loss
- Kidney disease
These complications arise because of compromised circulation, which can have a widespread and devastating effect on your body, as seen in the list above.