Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by high blood-glucose levels. This abnormal rise in glucose levels in the blood due to either insulin deficiency or to resistance of the body’s cells to the action of insulin. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines four major types of diabetes.
Classification of Diabetes mellitus
It is classified based on the cause or mode of treatments;
- Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) - need insulin shots to maintain the blood-glucose level,
- Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) - insulin shots are not must normalize the glucose level,
- Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) - diabetes develops during pregnancy and mostly disappears after delivery,
- secondary to other conditions (e.g. pancreatic disease, Hormonal disease, Drug or chemical exposure, Insulin receptor abnormalities, certain genetic syndromes).
Diagnosis of diabetes is by the presence of the classic signs & symptoms and unequivocally elevated blood-glucose levels, by fasting plasma glucose (FPG) 140 mg/dl, or by venous plasma glucose 200 mg/dl at 2 hours after a 75-g oral glucose challenge.
Video on types of diabetes
There are two major types of Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes (T1D): The body stops producing insulin or produces too little insulin to regulate blood glucose level.
- Type 1 diabetes involves about 10% of all people with diabetes in the United States.
- Type 1 diabetes is typically diagnosed during childhood or adolescence. It used to be referred to as juvenile-onset diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
- Type 1 diabetes can occur in an older individual due to destruction of the pancreas by alcohol, disease, or removal by surgery. It also results from progressive failure of the pancreatic beta cells, the only cell type that produces significant amounts of insulin.
- People with type 1 diabetes require insulin treatment daily to sustain life.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D): Although the pancreas still secretes insulin, the body of someone with type 2 diabetes is partially or completely unable to use this insulin. This is sometimes referred to as insulin resistance. The pancreas tries to overcome this resistance by secreting more and more insulin. People with insulin resistance develop type 2 diabetes when they fail to secrete enough insulin to cope with their higher demands.
- At least 90% of adult individuals with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.
- Type 2 diabetes is typically diagnosed in adulthood, usually after age 45 years. It used to be called adult-onset diabetes mellitus, or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. These names are no longer used because type 2 diabetes does occur in younger people, and some people with type 2 diabetes require insulin therapy.
- Type 2 diabetes is usually controlled with diet, weight loss, exercise, and oral medications. However, more than half of all people with type 2 diabetes require insulin to control their blood sugar levels at some point in the course of their illness.
