Diabetes is a disease in which the body either doesn't produce insulin, or it doesn't properly use insulin, or both. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that metabolizes glucose, which is the source of energy for cells in the body.

There are two types of diabetes -- type I and type II.

Type I affects about 10 percent of all diabetes. I am a type I. My body doesn't produce insulin, so I need to take extra insulin for it to metabolize any carbohydrates that I eat.

Insulin cannot be taken orally, so it must taken by injection or by insulin pump, which is a tiny device that connects to the body with plastic tubing and feeds a constant drip of insulin. I use an insulin pump.

With type II diabetes, which is much more common, the body generally produces some insulin, but it isn't able to process it properly. Type II is often associated with obesity, and part of the difficulty for type II diabetics is that the extra insulin, which is circulating unused in the body, also causes the body to hold on to fat cells. A fine balance must be found between managing insulin sensitivity and losing weight.

Most type II diabetics are able to take oral drugs that allow their body to properly use the insulin they produce. Obesity is a known risk factor for type II diabetes, and its incidence has increased as obesity rates have climbed.

The key to good diabetes control is blood sugar, or glucose, management. And the reality is that poor glucose control dramatically increases the risk for health complications related to heart and blood vessel disease: heart attacks, stroke, blindness and peripheral vascular disease, when blood flow to the limbs becomes impaired -- sometimes resulting in amputation.

All of these problems can develop when a trio of factors -- blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels -- are not kept within recommended ranges. That's why the concept of "control" is such an important aspect of being diabetic.

The goal is to mimic what the body would do if it were producing insulin. Normally the body would make smaller, steady amounts of insulin between meals and overnight. This is called the basal rate. And the body would produce larger amounts when you eat in order to burn off the carbohydrates. This is called a bolus.

Diabetics who inject insulin generally use two types: a slower-acting product that manages the basal rate, and a quicker-acting bolus insulin when they eat food. The bolus and basal rates work to keep blood sugars constantly in control.

Insulin pumps do much the same thing. These are small devices connected to the body by a small tube. The pump can be used to drip insulin into the body to maintain the basal rate, then give extra boluses with meals.

糖尿病是由于身体内部不再产生胰岛素,或者不能够合理的利用胰岛素,或者两种情况同时发生的情况下导致的一种疾病.胰岛素,是由促进葡萄糖代谢的胰腺产生的,而葡萄糖则是我们身体里细胞能量的来源.

糖尿病分为I型和II型两种类型.

I型糖尿病患者大约占了总的糖尿病患者的10%.我也是I型糖尿病患者.我的身体没办法自动产生胰岛素,因此只能依靠外部注射的胰岛素来促进我所吃的各种碳水化合物的新陈代谢.

胰岛素没办法通过口服来吸收,必须通过注射或者通过胰岛素泵来吸收.胰岛素泵是通过塑料管连接身体然后一滴滴,持续地将胰岛素注进身体的一种小仪器.我也在用.

II型的糖尿病是比较常见的,此类型的患者,身体一般都能够自动产生一些胰岛素,只是没有办法有效利用.II型的糖尿病容易造成肥胖,而在体内循环,没有被使用的那部分多余的胰岛素对II型糖尿病患者造成了一部分的困难,这也造成身体堆积了脂肪细胞.所以,必须在控制胰岛素敏感因子和减肥之间找到一个好的平衡点.

大部分II型患者都能够通过口服药物来使得身体能够合理利用所分泌的胰岛素.肥胖对于II型患者来说,是常见的一个危险的因素,所以,II型糖尿病的影响范围也随着肥胖比例的上升而攀升.

血糖或者葡萄糖的调节,是控制好糖尿病的关键.现实中对葡萄糖缺乏有效的控制,显著地增加了另外一些跟心血管疾病相关的并发症发生的风险,诸如心脏病,中风,失明和微血管病,当流向四肢的血液不足时,有时候可能导致截肢情况的发生.

当血糖,血压和胆固醇水平这三种因子没保持在合适的范围内,所有的这些问题都有可能发生.这也是为什么"控制"对于糖尿病患者来说是一个这么重要的概念了.

控制的目标是为了模拟身体在分泌胰岛素时的反应.正常来讲,身体本身会三餐之间和夜间会分泌小量,持续稳定的胰岛素,即基础量.而当你饮食的时候,身体为了分解碳水化合物,通常会产生比较大数量的胰岛素,即餐前量.

糖尿病患者一般注射两种类型的胰岛素:一种是调节基础率的短效胰岛素,另一种是进餐时注射的速效胰岛素. 餐前量和基础量的调节,保证血糖持续得到控制.

胰岛素泵的用处大同小异. 这些小仪器通过一个小管连接到身体,持续将胰岛素注射进身体,保持基础率,而在进餐的时候追加剂量