In recent years, the incidence of type two Diabetes Mellitus has been on the rise. Some countries are now facing a wide spread epidemic if the numbers continue to increase at the current rate. For instance, in China, the predicted rate of the population to develop type two Diabetes Mellitus is at ten percent.

When you calculate that the population is at 1.2 billion people, you can see that the rising trend of Diabetes development can be staggering. If this number of people were to develop diabetes, the impact would be catastrophic on the social and economic structure of the country.

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I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in August of 2008. Type 2 diabetes is in my family; my mother had it and my sister has it. I was bound to get it. I have been in a pre-diabetes stage for a few years now but really think if I had paid more attention to prevention I would not have diabetes. But alas, during a routine doctor’s visit in August my sugar measured 218. As it should be between 90 and 130 mg/dl before meals and under 180 mg/dl two hours after the start of a meal according to the American Diabetes Association, see diabetes.org. I could no longer consider myself as pre-diabetic. After the shock and realizing that for breakfast I had eaten a fresh peach with oatmeal and including drinking a glass of orange juice for breakfast it is no wonder that my blood sugar was so high. The doctor prescribed the equipment for me to test at home.

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It used to be clear that Juvenile, or Type-I diabetes, occurred only with children, and Type-II (“Adult Onset”) diabetes occurred solely among adults. While Type-I diabetes remains a problem of the young, and has a different etiology than Type-II diabetes, both are climbing in incidence. Each has a different cause, and can be treated in different ways.

The classic definition of Type-I diabetes was a reduction in the ability of the pancreas to produce insulin. The insulin-producing parts of the pancreas, the Islets of Langerhans (a good trivia question on your college biology exam), would somehow lose their ability to produce insulin. As a result, children of otherwise normal weight and constitution would need to move relatively quickly to treat their affliction, or die in a diabetic coma.

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Diabetes mellitus is a disease that causes higher than normal blood sugars in its sufferers. It is of two types: (1) Type I diabetes, which normally affects young people. It occurs when the body doesn’t make enough insulin to rid the body of excess sugar. The only way to treat that disease is to provide insulin to make up for the lost insulin from the pancreas. (2) Type II diabetes generally affects older people and is a condition where the body makes insulin but the cells of the body don’t respond to the insulin in the body.

The disease of diabetes mellitus affects 20.8 million people in the US or 7% of the total population. Nearly 6 million of them do not know they have the disease. Both genetics and environment and heredity play a role in who gets diabetes and who doesn’t. Poor dietary habits and obesity play a large role in the development of type II diabetes.

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Diabetes and exercise is sometimes regarded as a cruel combination for the person diabetic, suffering from overweight, bloating, swelling, dizziness, and general malaise. As a diabetic you might ask, “how can I exercise when I feel this way? I’m too tired.” If these questions crossed your mind, please be assured exercise can help and, more importantly, you can do it!

The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of exercise is to work until we drop: aerobics, jogging, or spending grueling hours at the gym. We get discouraged just thinking about it.

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If I think I may have high blood sugar but not diabetes. What are the symptoms and how can I make it better? thanks