Diabetes And Types

             Diabetes is little or no ability to move glucose out of the blood into the red blood cells. Nearly 16 million people have diabetes in the United States, which narrows it down to about 1 out of every seventeen people. About 2,150 new cases are diagnosed each day. Many of us do not clearly know what diabetes is and the different categories that it is classified in. The first type of diabetes that will be discussed is type 1 diabetes and steps that can be taken to diagnose diabetes. The second type of diabetes that will be talked about will be type 2 diabetes and how it affects patients. The third type of diabetes is gestational diabetes and how exercise can help control diabetes. This paper discusses type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes, their causes, diagnosis, treatments, and how they affect the patient. .
             The first type of diabetes that will be talked about will be type 1 diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. People with type 1 diabetes don't produce insulin and need regular shots of it to keep their blood glucose levels normal (What is Diabetes, Type 1). Almost half of the people with this type of diabetes are aged 20 and younger (Bernstein 167). That is why type 1 diabetes was once called juvenile onset diabetes, but the name has been dropped because it also strikes young adults. Type 1 diabetes accounts for only about 5 to 10 percent of the disease. The vast majority has type 2 diabetes. Risk factors for type 1 diabetes are a family history of the disease, the white race and being at an age less than 20. Half the people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are under the age of 20. One of the causes of type 1 diabetes is genetics. Scientist suspect that heredity plays a major role in type 1 diabetes and researchers have found several genes that appear to increase the risk of type 1. Another cause is viruses. Type 1 diabetes often strikes shortly after a viral infection.