When it comes to diabetes types there are essentially three types of diabetes and they are diabetes type 1, diabetes type 2, and gestational diabetes. Of the diabetes types the most well known is diabetes type 2 but let us take a look at all three of these different types of the condition and see what separates them and what links them together.

This type of diabetes is categorized by the complete inability for the digestive system to produce insulin. It is a degenerative disease that eventually destroys the body's ability to create insulin at any time and can become fatal if not treated with external injections of insulin directly to the blood. This disease is commonly considered to be more abundant in children and sometimes this misconception can cause an adult that has this diabetes to be incorrectly diagnosed as having type 2. As we will see later it is critical that this diagnosis be correct because the difference between type 1 and type 2 is significant and treating a type 1 patient with type 2 methods can cause permanent damage and even death if the treatment is not altered in time.

The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. About 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2. This form of diabetes is associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, previous history of gestational diabetes, physical inactivity, and ethnicity. About 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Type 2 diabetes is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents. However, nationally representative data on prevalence of type 2 diabetes in youth are not available. When type 2 diabetes is diagnosed, the pancreas is usually producing enough insulin, but for unknown reasons, the body cannot use the insulin effectively, a condition called insulin resistance. After several years, insulin production decreases. The result is the same as for type 1 diabetes--glucose builds up in the blood and the body cannot make efficient use of its main source of fuel.

The symptoms of type 2 diabetes develop gradually. Their onset is not as sudden as in type 1 diabetes. Symptoms may include fatigue or nausea, frequent urination, unusual thirst, weight loss, blurred vision, frequent infections, and slow healing of wounds or sores. Some people have no symptoms. To treat type 2 doctors will normally recommend a change in diet for the patient and tell the patient they have to lose weight in order for the body to begin to react properly to the insulin being added to the system. In some cases this loss of weight and a change in diet will help keep the type 2 under control. If this does not work then the next step is a combination of medications that will help the patient control their insulin flow and get their diabetes under control.

This diabetes is a very specific type and it only affects pregnant women who have never had diabetes before. Although the cause is not readily known it is believed that a hormone produced during pregnancy begins to affect the body's ability to properly utilize insulin and causes gestational diabetes.