What Is Secondary Diabetes?

Diabetes is characterized by damage to the body's ability to regulate glucose and insulin. Glucose is sugar the body extracts from food for energy and insulin is the hormone responsible for delivering glucose to cells. Secondary diabetes is the name applied when the condition of diabetes occurs as a result of some other disease or factor.

Possible Causes

• Secondary diabetes could be caused by pancreatitis, an endocrine disorder like acromegaly, Crushing's syndrome, a genetic mutation or an environmental factor like a medication or alcohol.

Duration

• Secondary diabetes can be temporary in some cases, although it can also develop as a chronic condition in severe cases, such as secondary diabetes resulting from total pancreatectomy.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of the onset of secondary diabetes include excessive urination, unexplained weight loss, extreme thirst, slow healing sores, numbness and tingling in the feet and frequent infections.

Diagnosis

• Secondary diabetes is diagnosed exactly like all other forms of diabetes, by using a glucose test.

Relief

• Secondary diabetes can be cured by treating the cause of the disorder. If it is a result of an incurable disorder, the diabetes will have to be controlled by diet, exercise and insulin therapy.