What does it mean to have Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes? Essay

Me First off, there are two types of Diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2. In this very moment over 1.25 million American children and adults are living with Type 1 Diabetes, most having been born with it or diagnosed at a young age. But what does it mean to have Type 1 Diabetes?
Me Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. The body stops making insulin because the body's immune system destroys the insulin producing cells (called beta cells) in the pancreas. So what is insulin? Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that allows your body to use sugar, scientifically known as glucose, from carbohydrates in the food that you eat. This is used for energy or to store glucose for future use. In a healthy body, the pancreas will respond to higher levels of blood glucose, such as in response to eating, by releasing insulin which will lower blood glucose levels by prompting the liver and muscles to take up glucose from the blood and store it as glycogen. People with diabetes don't make enough of their own insulin and and as a result, the pancreas is not able respond effectively enough to rises in blood glucose. Insulin is important because it helps keeps your blood sugar level from getting too high or too low. When the level is high, the liver stops producing glucose and the pancreas stops producing insulin. Without insulin to move glucose into cells, blood glucose levels become excessively high, a condition known as hyperglycemia.
Me People living with Type 1 Diabetes lack this crucial bodily agent so they need to follow a strict diet in which every carb and calorie is accounted for so the correct amount of insulin can be added to the body in shot or pill form. Similar to the symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes which I will discuss next, Type 1 symptoms include excessive thirst and hunger, fatigue, and blurred or impaired vision. Patients with Type 1 can never be cured but treatments aim at maintaining normal blood sugar levels through regular monitoring, insulin therapy, diet, and exercise.
Me Type 2 Diabetes is known for adult-onset. Unlike Type 1, Many of the risk factors for Type 2 Diabetes include lifestyle decisions and can be eliminated or reduced with time and effort. With Type 2 Diabetes, the body either doesn't produce enough insulin, or it resists insulin all together. This is called insulin resistance. At first, the pancreas makes extra insulin to make up for it. But, over time it isn't able to keep up and can't make enough insulin to keep blood glucose at normal levels. When this happens, beta cells secrete more insulin, and glucose is eventually forced into the cells. Glucose is maintained within normal limits, but at the expense of increased insulin secretion by the beta cells. After many years of such increased secretion, the beta cells become "tired" from working overtime and stops functioning properly, causing this disease.