What are the Three Main Types of Diabetes?

Diabetes is a well-known illness and many of us have a basic idea of what it is when someone mentions it. But there are many different types of diabetes, all slightly different. For some types, you can take preventative measures to lower your risk of developing them, and others there is still no known cause.

 

Ongoing research into diabetes

A lot of research is being done into the different types of diabetes out there – companies like Trials 4 Us run paid clinical trials to try to investigate treatments for the illness, and there is a lot of medical help available for people who suffer from it.

 

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is the least common type. It is not known why it develops, some people may be diagnosed very early on in childhood, whereas others are adults when they develop it. This is the type of diabetes that requires an injection of insulin as the body does not produce any at all.

Type 2 diabetes is something that all of us can do our best to protect ourselves from. Eating healthy balanced diets and getting plenty of exercise can help us to prevent this type. With type 2 diabetes, insulin is still produced but does not work effectively. It can be controlled with a sensible diet agreed by a doctor, who will keep an eye on the condition.

Gestational diabetes in pregnancy

Gestational diabetes is the type that develops during pregnancy. When the hormones in the body fluctuate and change as much as they do during pregnancy it can lead to the woman developing this. Because there are often no obvious symptoms, a screening test is performed at around 24 weeks into the pregnancy.

Summary

This article outlines the three main types of diabetes. Type 1 has no known cause and requires insulin injections as the body produces none, type 2 can often be reduced through diet and exercise and is managed with insulin that the body still produces but does not use effectively, and gestational diabetes develops during pregnancy and is picked up through a screening test.

Questions this article raises

• Why does type 1 diabetes require insulin injections while type 2 does not always?
• What lifestyle changes can help protect against type 2 diabetes?
• Why is gestational diabetes often only found through screening?