Type 1 diabetes is also known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes. It is a chronic condition where pancreas secretes little or no insulin, a hormone required to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy. On the other hand type 2 diabetes results when the body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin or it secretes less of insulin.
Type 1 diabetes may occur due to various factors, which may include genetics and contact to certain viruses. Generally type 1 diabetes typically appears during childhood or adolescence, but it can also develop in adults. There is no cure for type 1 diabetes but still it can be managed. People who have type 1 diabetes can expect to live longer and healthier lives with proper treatment.
Causes: The exact cause for type 1 diabetes is still not known. Type 1 diabetes may occur due to dysfunctioning of the body's own immune system which mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing (islet) cells in the pancreas. This process may be because of genetics or exposure to certain viruses.
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Type 2 diabetes is also known as adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes. It is a chronic condition that affects the way your body metabolizes sugar (glucose), which is body's main source of fuel. In type 2 diabetes, body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin ( a hormone that enables the movement of sugar into cells) — or even may not produce enough insulin to sustain a normal glucose level. Type 2 diabetes if left untreated can be life-threatening.
Type 2 diabetes is common in adults but can affect children when childhood obesity increases. Type 2 diabetes is non curable but by eating well, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight we can manage the disease. If blood sugar is not controlled by diet and exercises, one may require diabetes medications or insulin therapy.
Causes: When our body becomes resistant to the effect of insulin or when enough insulin is not produced by pancreas, one can develop type 2 diabetes. Why this happens is exactly not known, although obesity and physical inactivity seem to be causal factors.
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Symptoms of diabetes developing during pregnancy are classified under gestational diabetes. Like other types of diabetes, gestational diabetes affects how your cells use sugar (glucose) — your body's main fuel. Gestational diabetes causes high blood sugar that can affect your pregnancy and your baby's health.
Complications from pregnancy can be alarming, but there's good news. Expectant moms can help control gestational diabetes by eating healthy foods, exercising and, if necessary, using medication. Taking good care of yourself can ensure a healthy pregnancy for you and a healthy start for your baby.
Blood sugar usually returns to normal soon after delivery in gestational diabetes. But if you've had gestational diabetes, you're at risk for future type 2 diabetes. You'll continue working with your health care team to monitor and manage your blood sugar.
Causes: It is not known how and why some women develop gestational diabetes. To understand how gestational diabetes occurs, it can help to understand how pregnancy affects your body's normal processing of glucose.
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Acromegaly, also called as gigantism, is a rare disease in which you make too much growth hormone. Due to this there are various symptoms which slowly develop over several years. Common symptoms are that your hands and feet become larger, and features of your face may become more prominent. The cause is usually a small non-cancerous tumor in the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland lies just below the brain. Pituitary hormone produces several hormones, including growth hormone. (A hormone is a chemical that is made in one part of the body, passes into the bloodstream, and then can have effects on other parts of the body.)
Hormone secreted by the body is partly controlled by other hormones which come from a small part of the brain called the hypothalamus. This is just above the pituitary.
It makes growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) which stimulates the pituitary to make growth hormone when the blood level of growth hormone is low.
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When your body is exposed to high levels of the hormone cortisol for a long time it is called Cushing syndrome. Hypercortisolism is the most common cause of Cushing syndrome. It is caused by the use of oral corticosteroid medication. The condition can also occur when your body makes too much cortisol.
An excess of cortisol can produce some of the hallmark signs of Cushing syndrome — a fatty hump between your shoulders, a rounded face, and pink or purple stretch marks on your skin. Cushing syndrome can also result in high blood pressure, bone loss and, on occasion, diabetes.
Management of Cushing syndrome can return your body's cortisol production to normal and noticeably improve your symptoms. The earlier treatment begins, the better your chances for recovery.
Causes: There are a number of reasons for Cushing disease and these include the following: Pituitary adenoma - Cushing's disease
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Noncancerous tumor (adenoma) of the pituitary gland in your brain is called prolactinoma. It overproduces the hormone prolactin which is called as hyperprolactinaemia. The major effect of increased prolactin is a decrease in levels of some sex hormones — estrogen in women and testosterone in men. Prolactinoma can impair your vision, cause infertility and produce other effects, although it isn't life-threatening.
Prolactinoma is one of several types of tumors that can develop in your pituitary gland.
Medications can often restore your prolactin level to normal and helping in treating prolactinoma. Surgery to remove the pituitary tumor also may be an option to treat prolactinoma.
Causes: These are tumors that develops in the pituitary gland. The cause of these tumors remains unknown.
A small bean-shaped gland situated at the base of your brain is called the pituitary gland. Despite its small size, the pituitary gland influences nearly every part of your body.
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A raised level of thyroid hormone is called as hyperthyroidism. It has various causes but Graves' disease is the most common cause. Hyperthyroidism can produce various symptoms. Thyroxine is a body chemical (hormone) made by the thyroid gland. It is carried around the body in the bloodstream. It helps to keep the body's functions (the metabolism) working at the correct pace. Many cells and tissues in the body need thyroxine to keep them going correctly.
In an overactive thyroid gland, your thyroid gland makes too much thyroxine. The extra thyroxine causes many of your body's functions to speed up. (In contrast, if you have hypothyroidism, you make too little thyroxine; this causes many of the body's functions to slow down.) Thyrotoxicosis is a term that may be used by doctors instead of hyperthyroidism. The two terms mean much the same.
Causes: Many conditions can cause hyperthyroidism, including Graves' disease, toxic adenoma, Plummer's disease (toxic multinodular goiter) and thyroiditis. Your thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland situated at the base of your neck, just below your Adam's apple.
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Underactive thyroid gland is called as hypothyroidism. It is a term used to describe a condition in which there is a reduced level of thyroid hormone (thyroxine) in the body. This can cause various symptoms, the most common being: tiredness, weight gain, constipation, aches, dry skin, lifeless hair and feeling cold. Thyroxine is a hormone (body chemical) made by the thyroid gland in the neck. It is carried round the body in the bloodstream. It helps to keep the body's functions (the metabolism) working at the correct pace. Many cells and tissues in the body need thyroxine to keep them going correctly.
When thyroid gland is unable to make enough thyroxine it results in hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism causes many of the body's functions to slow down. Hypothyroidism may also occur if there is not enough thyroid gland left to make thyroxine, eg after surgical removal or injury. (In contrast, if you have hyperthyroidism, you make too much thyroxine. This causes many of the body's functions to speed up.)
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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), formerly known as the Stein-Leventhal syndrome, is a common disorder. It can cause period problems, reduced fertility, excess hair growth, and acne. Many women with PCOS are also overweight. In a female, ovaries are a pair of glands that lie on either side of the uterus (womb). Each ovary is about the size of a large marble. The ovaries make ova (eggs) and various hormones. Hormones are chemicals that are made in one part of the body, pass into the bloodstream, and have an effect on other parts of the body.
Normally, ovulation occurs once a month when you release an ovum (egg) into a Fallopian tube which leads into the uterus (womb). A little swelling of the ovary called a follicle (like a tiny cyst) develops before an ovum is released at ovulation, it develops within.
Each month several follicles start to develop, but normally just one fully develops and goes on to ovulate.
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