What is the anatomy and physiology of diabetes mellitus?
Diabetes mellitus is a dysfunction of glucose metabolism. Cells in the body use the glucose produced by the food that we eat for energy. The cells get glucose via a hormone called insulin that is produced by the beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. The most common analogy of this is that insulin is like a key that unlocks the cells of the body, which in turn allows glucose to enter the cells to be used for energy. Diabetes can be a lack of insulin (type 1) or a resistance to insulin (type 2). Type 1 diabetes requires the person to take insulin via injection or a pump. People with type 2 diabetes have a bit more flexibility in their treatment options. They may be able to control their diabetes with diet and exercise, pills and/or insulin. This is a basic explanation of a complex disease, but I hope it helps.
