Let start by establishing that Diabetes is a disease and is a disease that prevents the body from metering the energy it needs from the foods it consumes.  Your body transforms what you eat into energy in the form of sugar.  The organ than handles this function is the pancreas. When the pancreas starts producing little insulin, no insulin at all or the insulin produced does not work, as it should, the condition is called insulin resistance.  Insulin is a hormone just like any other hormone and when the body is not handled it properly, steps have to be taken to correct the condition.

The millions of cells in the body use energy by transforming what you eat and drink into sugar.  Sugar is needed for daily activities.  After your cells transform the energy into sugar, the sugar is carried throughout the body via the bloodstream.

This energy is taken from two places, your stomach and the liver.  The stomach is where energy is stored and the liver is the organ that manufactures sugar.  From these two places, sugar is stored in the muscles or fat cells.  When the liver produces sugar, the pancreas is charged with the duty of releasing this energy in the form of sugar to the cells.  When your cells receive the sugar (glucose), the level of sugar in your bloodstream decreases.  When your body cannot perform these functions due to insulin problems, the sugar cannot get into the cells and this increases the level of sugar in your blood.  When this occurs and your sugar level in your blood stream is high, it is called diabetes.

There are three forms of diabetes; diabetes type 1, diabetes type 2, and gestational diabetes.  The last one occurs during some pregnancies.

Diabetes type 1 occurs when the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are damage.  When a person suffers with this condition produce very little or no insulin at all.  As a result, sugar cannot get into the cells, cannot be transformed into energy and makes the blood sugar level to rise.  Even thought diabetes type one can occur at any given age, is the most common form of diabetes and it normally happens to individuals who are 20 years old or younger.

Diabetes type 2 still produces insulin, but the amount produced is not enough or does not work properly and as a result the insulin is not used properly and cannot get into the cells.  Moreover, this malfunction produces the amount of sugar in the blood to rise.  This type of diabetes is very common among people who are in their forties or older, are overweight, or use steroids.  This type of diabetes has one advantage though; it can be controlled with a proper diet, exercise, weight control, oral medication or insulin shots.

Gestation diabetes is high blood sugar during pregnancy.  As the baby develops, his need for sugar gets higher, and the hormone changes a pregnant woman goes through during pregnancy affect the insulin amounts needed and this action results in high levels of sugar in the blood stream.

The women who are more at risk to develop gestational diabetes are those who become pregnant after the age of twenty-five, are overweight, have a family history, are of Hispanic, African-American, Native-American or Asian origin.  It is the norm of this type of diabetes to return to normal once the baby has been delivered, Nevertheless, those who suffer from gestational diabetes run a high risk or developing diabetes type 2 later on.