DIABETES

Diabetes is a disorder of the body's metabolism, the process of converting the food we eat into energy. Insulin is the major factor in this process, which begins when food is broken down during digestion to create glucose, the main source of fuel for the body. This glucose passes into the bloodstream, where insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas (a large gland behind the stomach), allows it to get into the cells.
In people with diabetes, one of two parts of this system fails to work properly:

• the pancreas produces little or no insulin (Type I); or
• the body's cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced (Type II).