Diabetics have high levels of glucose or sugar in their blood.
In Type 1 diabetes, which begins in childhood, the body doesn't produce enough of the hormone insulin, which controls the level of glucose in the blood. The body can't store or use glucose without insulin, so high levels of sugar stay in the blood. Patients with Type 1 diabetes must have injections of insulin every day. People with Type 2 or adult-onset diabetes have become resistant to insulin, reducing the amount of glucose the cells can use at any one time. Many people with Type 2 diabetes can control it with diet, exercise and oral medications, but eventually they may need injected insulin as well, according to Dr. Stuart Barnes, an internal medicine specialist in Anderson.