What is "diabetes"?

What is "diabetes"?

Anne Peters, MD, FACP, CDE (Professor and Director of Clinical Diabetes Programs, USC Keck School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: What causes type 2 diabetes?; Does type 1 diabetes only occur in childhood?; Is one type of diabetes worse than the other? and more...

Diabetes is a disease that means the blood sugar levels in the blood are too high. And the reason that's important is because all of us need some blood sugar in our blood; that's how your brain gets fuel, gets energy. Sugar is necessary. It's energy. But in diabetes, what happens is the blood sugar levels go way too high. And that means two things for a person with diabetes: one is the body doesn't get enough energy, and second of all, it means that that high blood sugar level caused by diabetes starts causing damage, and over time it damages the eyes, the kidneys, the nerves, and can cause really serious complications. Treating diabetes means lowering the blood sugar levels and then keeping them normal forever.