• Question: why are people diabetic?

    Asked by ellieandmaddy8w to Katherine on 22 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Katherine Haxton

      Katherine Haxton answered on 22 Mar 2012:

      People are diabetic when their bodies can’t deal with glucose very well. Glucose is dealt with by a substance called insulin that’s produced in the pancreas. In diabetes, the body can’t produce enough insulin to deal with all the glucose that comes from the food we eat, particularly sugary foods. Too much glucose causes damage to the organs in the body so it’s important to get diabetes under control. Some people monitor their blood glucose levels by pricking their finger with a pin to get a drop of blood to analyse. They might inject insulin to control the glucose. Some other diabetes patients might have islet cell transplants which are to give the pancreas the ability to produce insulin properly again.

Comments

  • Photo: ilovescience2991

    ilovescience2991 commented on :

    my mum was diabetes but the doctors say its just because she has M.E. WHAT IS M.E. and is there a cure for it if so what is it

  • Photo: ilovescience2991

    ilovescience2991 commented on :

    #has not was

  • Photo: Katherine

    Katherine commented on :

    M.E. stands for Myalgic Encephalopathy and is sometimes called chronic fatigue syndrome or postviral fatigue syndrome.
    At the moment there is no known cure for M.E., mainly because scientists aren’t too sure what actually causes it. Some times people have a really bad virus like a cold and for a while (weeks or months) afterwards they feel tired all the time and have some other symptoms – that’s postviral fatigue syndrome. Some people develop M.E. and there isn’t an obvious reason why.
    So there isn’t a cure…yet…but there is a lot of research being done to find the reasons behind the condition and possible treatments. There are some things that ME patients can do to help themselves feel better – I’m sure your Mum’s doctors have told her all about it. They’ll also give her lots of good advice and help with diabetes. And I’m sure you’re helping her out lots as well 🙂

  • Photo: ellieandmaddy8w

    ellieandmaddy8w commented on :

    thanks for answering my question, was very helpful.