Diabetes is caused by a group of metabolic disorders in which there are high blood sugar levels over a long period of time. There are three main types of diabetes:
l Type 1 Diabetes results from the body not having enough insulin.
l Type 2 Diabetes mainly happens to those who do not have enough physical exercise, eat too much unhealthy food and get too heavy.
l Gestational Diabetes is the third main form. It appears when a woman is having a baby. She will probably get well again after the birth of the baby.
Diabetes can bring serious problems. People with diabetes, especially the Type 1, will easily get thirsty and hungry, and quickly lose weight. If it is not treated, it will develop rapidly (weeks or months), and cause many long-term complications. All the complications relate to damage to blood vessels. For example, damage to the eyes. It is caused by damage to the blood vessels in the eyes, and results in gradual vision loss and blindness. The complications will greatly increase the risk of diabetes, by which about 75% of the deaths are caused.
According to a report from the WHO (World Health Organization) in 2015, about 415 million people have diabetes worldwide, which means 8. 3% of the adults in the world have diabetes. Of all the cases, 85% to 90% are Type 2 Diabetes. That is to say, most cases of diabetes result from the unhealthy life style. Diabetes doubles a person's risk of early death. From 2012 to 2015, about 1.5 to 5 million deaths each year resulted from this disease. The global economic cost of diabetes in 2014 was around 612 billion USD.
A healthy life style can help prevent diabetes. Doing a lot of physical activities and having a healthy diet will help have normal body weight. Higher levels of physical activity (more than 90 minutes per day) can reduce the risk of diabetes by 28 %. Healthy diet includes foods rich in whole grains and fiber, foods with good fats from nuts, vegetable oils and fish, little sugar, and less red meat.
