Diabetes is a condition caused by the body’s inability to process sugar and relates to a lack of insulin production or cellular resistance to insulin. Diabetes results in high blood glucose (sugar) levels and can increase risk of stroke, eye disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, reduced blood flow to the legs (causing pain or limb loss), and peripheral nerve disease. There are two main types of diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas produces little or no insulin to signal target cells to remove glucose from the blood stream. In type 2 diabetes, enough insulin is produced but the target cells do not recognize the insulin signal due to too few receptors or a defect in the receptors.

Figure 1: Normal insulin production and function.

Figure 2: Type 1 diabetes.

Figure 3: Type 2 diabetes.