Diabetes is a set of related diseases in which the body cannot regulate the amount of sugar (glucose) in the blood.
Glucose in the blood gives you energy—the kind you need when you walk briskly, run for a bus, ride your bike, take an aerobics class, and perform your day-to-day chores.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.

Diabetes Type 1

Results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.

Diabetes Type 2

Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.

Diabetic Coma

(Hyperosmolar nonketotic diabetic coma). When a person with type 2 diabetes becomes severely dehydrated and is not able to drink enough fluids to make up for the fluid losses, they may develop this life-threatening complication.

What is pre-diabetes?

People with pre-diabetes have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. This condition raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Pre-diabetes is also called impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), depending on the test used to diagnose it. Some people have both IFG and IGT.

* IFG is a condition in which the blood glucose level is high (100 to 125 mg/dL) after an overnight fast, but is not high enough to be classified as diabetes. (The former definition of IFG was 110 mg/dL to 125 mg/dL.)

* IGT is a condition in which the blood glucose level is high (140 to 199 mg/dL) after a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test, but is not high enough to be classified as diabetes.

Causes of Diabetes :

• infection with a specific virus or bacteria
• exposure to food-borne chemical toxins
• exposure as a very young infant to cow's milk, where an as yet unidentified component triggers the autoimmune reaction
• increasing age
• obesity
• physical inactivity
• certain medicines
• Sex : It is commonly seen in elderly especially males but strong evidence of developing diabetes in females with multiple pregnancy has been observed or in females suffering from (PCOS) Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.