What is Diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus is a condition in which the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. Glucose comes from the digestion of starchy foods such as bread, rice, potatoes, chapatis, yams and plantain, from sugar and other sweet foods, and from the liver which makes glucose.
There are many potential medical complications with diabetes, these include:
- Hypoglycaemia – when the level of glucose in the blood falls too low;
- Diabetic ketoacidosis – when the level of ketones in the body rises, which can potentially result in a coma;
- Cardiovascular disease – e.g. heart disease and strokes;
- Retinopathy – which can damage vision;
- Neuropathy – which causes damage to the nerves that transmit impulses to and from the brain and spinal cord and
- Nephropathy – kidney disease, when the kidneys start to fail.
