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About Diabetes Print E-mail
Written by Susan McCreadie, MD   
Diabetes. We have all heard the word before, but what exactly is diabetes (mellitus)? Diabetes is a catch all name for several diseases with abnormal carbohydrate metabolism, resulting in hyperglycemia (too much sugar in the blood). Our blood sugar is regulated by a hormone called insulin. After eating, our blood sugar rises.  Rising blood sugar tells our body to secrete insulin from our pancreas. Insulin brings glucose (sugar) into our cells for energy, keeping our blood sugar controlled in a narrow range. So how does too much sugar end up in the blood in a person with diabetes? Either there isn't enough insulin (insulin deficiency) and/or the cell becomes resistant to the insulin (insulin resistance).

There are actually several different types of diabetes.  Let's take a look them, and how frequently we see each one.
Type 2 Diabetes ( > 80%)
Type 1 Diabetes ( < 10%)
Other ( < 10%)

Type 2 diabetes is typically called "adult onset" diabetes. Unfortunately, the prevalence in youth is increasing. It’s no longer an adult disease. The lifetime risk of type 2 diabetes is now more than one in three in the United States. Staggering. Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common type of diabetes. It accounts for over 80 percent of the cases, and is characterized by varying degrees of insulin deficiency and insulin resistance. It usually begins as insulin resistance, a disorder in which the cells do not use insulin properly. As the need for insulin rises, the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce it, leading to insulin deficiency.

Our cells only need so much glucose for energy; if the cell has reached its glucose limit, blood sugar rises producing more insulin. Yet despite more insulin, more glucose doesn’t enter the cell; this is called insulin resistance. With time the pancreas tires from having to produce insulin surges to normalize rapid spikes in blood sugar, and less insulin is secreted; this is called relative (vs. absolute, see type 1 diabetes) insulin deficiency.

These 2 conditions, insulin resistance combined with relative insluin deficiency are the major factors that contribute to type 2 diabetes. Unlike type 1 diabetics, type 2 diabetics are producing some insulin but their body is not able to recognize the insulin and use it properly. Type 2 diabetes is treatable and reversible.


Type 1 diabetes is typically called “early onset or childhood" diabetes. It can occur in both children and adults, and is characterized by destruction of the pancreatic cells that secrete insluin, leading to absolute insulin deficiency. The destruction of the pancreatic cells is usually due to autoimmunity, where the immune system is confused between “self” and “non-self” and mistakenly destroys self. However, some people with type 1 diabetes have no known cause for why they are destroying their pancreatic cells. There is no known cure for type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is actually on the rise. Find out why. Research shows vitamin D suppresses cells in the immune system that play a role in the development of the type 1 diabetes, so women of childbearing age should optimize their vitamin D levels!


Other causes of diabetes account for less than 10 percent of the cases.  These include pregnancy-induced diabetes, genetic defects that destroy insulin secretion or function, diseases that affect the pancreas (the organ that secretes insulin), other endocrine disorders, drug-induced diabetes, some infections, and uncommon genetic syndromes associated with diabetes.


Treatment: The standard medical approach to diabetes is to maintain blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible. Insulin is the treatement for those with type 1 diabetes, since these individuals have absolute insulin deficiency. Typically type 2 diabetics are treated with medication, which may include insulin. The problem with the standard medical approach of lowering blood sugar, is that elevated blood sugar is merely a symptom of insulin resistance. The real problem is elevated insulin. 

Elevated sugar is only a symptom, not the cause of the problem.  The real problem is elevated insulin unchecked over decades from a highly refined carbohydrate diet, a sedentary lifestyle and environmental toxins.  ~ Mark Hyman, MD
 
Standard therapy does NOT address reducing insulin, which is the REAL solution to reversing type 2 diabetes. The answer for type 2 diabetics is returning their physiology to normal by restorying their sensitivity to insulin.  See REAL Solutions for Blood Sugar Balance.

Diabetes Through the Eyes of Children: 
 

   
Susan McCreadie, MD is a Holistic Pediatrician and co-founder of nourishMD. She shows parents how to find REAL health for their child, so they can stop treating their child's symptoms and instead find solutions that help their child heal from the inside out.