Metabolism is a complex network of chemical reactions controlled by an even more complex network involving the nervous system and various hormones. Malfunctions in these networks are associated with diseases.
Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases characterized by an inability to stimulate the body’s cells to take up and metabolize nutrients, especially glucose (also known as ‘grape sugar’), from the blood.
Type 1 diabetes is characterized by a destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Type 2 diabetes is largely an effect of obesity and is due to the body’s cells developing a resistance to insulin – an inability to react properly to insulin. The beta cells can often compensate for insulin resistance by releasing more insulin into the bloodstream, but sooner or later these cells no longer manage to compensate, and Type 2 diabetes can be diagnosed.
