What is Diabetes?

Video 3 of 20
1 min 45 sec
English
English
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Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a condition which influences the blood sugar levels in the affected person’s blood. There are two main types of diabetes, with the names Type 1 and Type 2. Although others do exist, these are much, much rarer. Diabetes is diagnosed by testing a person’s blood sugar levels. Although technically there is only a diabetic and not-diabetic diagnosis, there is a middle ground reading where it would appear that diabetes is starting to develop, and this person would then be called pre-diabetic. Whilst most types of diabetes are not hereditary, each individual’s DNA will affect the risk of developing a form of the condition.

Diabetes UK have estimated that by 2025, more than 5 million people could have diabetes in the UK alone. The number of affected adults worldwide is around an astounding 400 million. In the UK, someone is diagnosed with diabetes every two minutes, and more than 500 people with the condition die prematurely every single week. One in 15 people have diabetes in the UK, and around a million people are currently living undiagnosed. Roughly 90% of people living with diabetes have Type 2, 8% with Type 1, and the other 2% is made up of rarer types. Many famous people are living with diabetes, including Nick Jonas, Theresa May and Tom Hanks. To raise awareness of the condition, World Diabetes Day takes place on the 14th of November every year, so be aware of this and see what you can do to help.