Basic Facts
- Diabetes mellitus is a condition in which blood glucose (sugar) levels are too high because the body cannot produce insulin or cannot use insulin efficiently.
- If untreated, diabetes can result in numerous complications, including atherosclerosis (buildup of plaque on artery walls), kidney disease, blindness, and amputation.
- Controlling diabetes depends mainly on ensuring that blood glucose levels do not rise too high or fall too low.
- By controlling blood glucose levels, people with diabetes can delay or avoid many of the complications the disorder causes.
Managing diabetes will lower the risk for many conditions, including:
- Heart attack,
- Angina (chest pain),
- Carotid artery disease,
- Compromised immune system,
- Connective tissue disorders,
- Diabetic vascular disease, gangrene, and limb loss,
- Enlarged prostate,
- Eye problems,
- High blood pressure,
- Hypoglycemia,
- Ketoacidosis,
- Kidney infection,
- Leg artery disease,
- Incontinence,
- Nephropathy,
- Nerve damage,
- Prostate infection,
- Renal (kidney) failure,
- Renal artery disease,
- Retinopathy,
- Sexual dysfunction,
- Skin problems,
- Stroke,
- Ureteral stones, and
- Infertility.