The occurrence of diabetes of any type is due to the fact that glucose is not completely or partially absorbed by the human body, which has many unpleasant and sometimes irreversible consequences. Under normal conditions, the pancreas (PZH) automatically releases the hormone insulin into the bloodstream as soon as glucose appears in the blood and the body's cells use it to "absorb" the sugar. In diabetics, this process is interrupted for various reasons.
Type 1 diabetes
Typically, type 1 diabetes occurs in early childhood and adolescence. The pancreas stops producing insulin because the beta cells of the "Isles of Langerhans" in which it is produced die completely or partially. Sometimes clinical type 1 diabetes begins after severe viral infections, according to scientists, the fault of this "failure" is the fault of the immune system.
Some dangerous viruses are very similar in structure to the beta cells of the pancreas, and the immune system destroys them along with the alien viruses. It is impossible to restore insulin-producing cells, so for a diabetic the only way to improve metabolism is permanent control of blood sugar levels and timely administration of insulin.
type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes usually develops in adulthood and old age. Most often, its occurrence is associated with obesity, although sometimes it also occurs with a hereditary predisposition, as well as after taking certain medications. Type 2 diabetes can develop against the background of chronic diseases of the pancreas or during pregnancy. Even though the pancreas of such patients produces enough insulin, it is slower than necessary. Therefore, the cells do not have time to use all the glucose, and its level rises.
The second cause of blood sugar in type 2 diabetes is a decrease in the sensitivity of tissues to the hormone insulin. Doctors call this "insulin resistance". Simply put, they don't have the normal amount of it, which is mainly associated with obesity.
Gestational diabetes
One type of type 2 diabetes is diabetes in pregnancy or gestational diabetes. A pregnant woman's pancreas produces a normal amount of insulin, but the sensitivity of the tissues to it is reduced due to the presence of "pregnancy hormones" in the blood. It usually occurs at 20-24 weeks and continues until delivery, after which the metabolism improves on its own. However, sometimes, under the guise of gestational diabetes, DM 1 begins, and it also happens that on the background of pregnancy, DM 2 appears, the presence of which the woman did not suspect.