Diabetes in America

According to the American Diabetes Association, 15.7 million people in America have diabetes and it is considered to be the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. If Diabetes is not properly controlled, it can lead to many other disorders such as heart and kidney disease, nerve damage, edema and infections with the skin, lungs, feet and mouth.
 
There are two different types of diabetes:
 
Type 1 where the individual is insulin dependent your body produces no insulin and usually starts at an early age. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
 
Type 2 which is non insulin dependent, and usually starts a little later in life but can affect any age, usually starts pertaining to diet.
 
In type 2, the pancreas produces a small amount of insulin, yet not enough to fuel the cells. Medication is used in both 1 and 2 to combat resistance the cells may have to what little insulin or none that there is in the bloodstream.
 
With type 1 diet can greatly help you lesson the amount of medication needed, but you will always need some medication. With type 2 in most all cases, with diet, you can eliminate medication altogether. Always check your blood sugar levels with meals, when on the correct diet for this disease, you can easily drop to a very low blood sugar level if you do not monitor your medication and that may run the risk of falling into a diabetic coma. Diabetes requires eating little and often through the day, putting a protein with each meal and correctly balancing your day with complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

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