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Gestational diabetes is the one type of diabetes that is generally short lived. Gestational diabetes occurs only in pregnant women when blood sugars rise above normal target range (over 120). Gestational diabetes generally has a quick onset (first few months of pregnancy) and ends soon after the mother has given birth. Gestational diabetes occurs in three to eight percent of women, so if you or a loved one is planning to become pregnant, or is already pregnant, you should consider learning more about this type of diabetes.

Gestational diabetes occurs because mother's tissues become resistant to a hormone called insulin. When you eat food, your body digests it and breaks down all the carbohydrates into sugar, or glucose. When glucose enters the bloodstream your brain signals your pancreas (a digestive- and hormone-regulating organ) to release insulin. Insulin helps glucose to leave the bloodstream and enter your muscles for energy. For pregnant women, the muscles and placenta (the sac surrounding the baby) become resistant to insulin so that glucose remains in the blood stream, ultimately creating a higher level of blood sugar (consistently higher than 120).

Some women are more at risk for this rise in blood sugar than others. Some risk factors for gestational diabetes include age (older than 25), family history (family members with type 2 diabetes or who have had babies over 9 pounds), weight (inactive, overweight women are more at risk), and race (women who are African American, American Indian, Hispanic or Asian are more at risk). Although many of the risk factors mentioned are out of your control, you can generally try to control your weight and lifestyle during and preceding pregnancy. Ask your doctor what the best weight for you is and then ask advice on improving eating habits and making exercise habit.

If you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes you can generally control it with diet, exercise, careful monitoring and potentially medication. Diets h...

Type 2 diabetes is one of several types of diabetes mellitus (diabetes that deals with your body's ability to use carbohydrates). Diabetes, in general terms, is found in people who either are insulin dependent or insulin resistant. Insulin is a hormone from your pancreas that helps sugar molecules (glucose) from your food to enter your muscles for use as energy. People who are insulin dependent do not make enough insulin. People who are insulin resistant have muscles and other tissues in their body that do not respond to insulin's efforts to supply glucose-based energy. Another term for insulin resistance is type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is typically diagnosed in late teens or adulthood for reasons still not completely known. Although chemical causes have not been solidly identified, the health community has been able to identify several risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Major risk factors include obesity, inactivity, age, and family history.

If you are overweight, generally inactive, over the age of sixteen and have type 2 diabetes in your family, you are at risk. If you have already been diagnosed you will find that although sometimes inconvenient, living with type 2 diabetes can be quite manageable. A few keys to living with type 2 diabetes are making sure you eat a healthy diet with lots of fiber and vegetables, reaching and maintaining a healthy weight for your height and age, and living an active lifestyle. Medicine can be completely avoided in some cases if ...

Diabetes is one of the most commonly diagnosed diseases in the United States. People of all ages and ethnicities can be diagnosed with diabetes. There are three kinds of diabetes that are commonly diagnosed, these include diabetes mellitus type 1, diabetes mellitus type 2 and diabetes insipidus.

Diabetes mellitus, or sugar diabetes, deals with your body's ability to properly use sugar. In a properly working body, glucose (sugar molecules) enters the body in the form of food and is broken down to either be stored or used for their primary purpose: energy. With diabetes mellitus your body struggles to produce or accept the hormone called insulin. Insulin is secreted (distributed) by one of the body's main digestive and hormone regulatory centers, the pancreas. Sometimes the pancreas does not make enough insulin, and sometimes the body's tissues that are meant to recognize insulin for sugar absorption do not.

Patients with type 1 diabetes are insulin dependent, meaning that their bodies do not make enough insulin for sugar to enter muscles and tissues for energy. Type 1 diabetes is typically diagnosed in early childhood, but can be diagnosed at anytime during life. Patients with type 2 diabetes are insulin resistant, meaning that their bodies do not respond well to insulin's attempt to bring sugar, or energy, into the body's tissues. Type 2 diabetes is most commonly found in adults. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can be managed with shots of insulin. Type 2 diab...