| Description: | What is diabetes? Diabetes is a disease caused by a lack of insulin (a hormone) in the human body. Insulin is needed by the body to metabolize (breakdown) the sugar that we eat. When insulin is not available the sugar levels in the body can rise to extremely high levels which can cause diseases of various body parts like the kidneys, eyes, nerves, hearts etc. There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes develops when the body can’t produce the natural hormone insulin. If left untreated, symptoms include excessive thirst, passing excessive urine and weight loss. |