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What Are the Two Types of Diabetes?

Diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin or cannot efficiently use the insulin it produces to convert glucose---commonly known as blood sugar---into energy that your cells need for fuel. Three types of diabetes exist.

  1. Type 1 Diabetes

    • People diagnosed with type 1 diabetes do not produce insulin on their own and usually have this condition from childhood. Without insulin, the cells cannot convert the sugar from food into fuel for the cells that make up the body's muscles and tissue. Patients need to take insulin regularly and monitor their blood-glucose levels for the rest of their lives.

    Type 2 Diabetes

    • When your body cannot make enough insulin to eliminate all the glucose from your blood or when your body stops being able to use the insulin effectively, you suffer from type 2 diabetes.

    Gestastional Diabetes

    • During pregnancy, a woman's hormones may cause her to need additional insulin. If her body cannot produce enough, she may develop this form of diabetes. About 4 percent of pregnant women suffer from gestational diabetes, according to Diabetes.org.

    Diagnosis

    • All three types of diabetes are diagnosed using fasting glucose tests. Your family physician or endocrinologist may also suggest conducting a glucose tolerance test, which assesses how the body responds to sugar in the blood over a two-hour period.

    Treatment

    • Type 1 diabetes is usually treated with insulin and the frequent monitoring of blood-glucose levels. Type 2 and gestational diabetes are often treated with dietary and other lifestyle changes, exercise, oral medications and, in some cases, insulin.

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