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Asked by shivanimistry10 to Sarah, Liz, Emilie, Diabetes UK on 6 Mar 2014.
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Emilie Combet answered on 6 Mar 2014:
Diabetes is a term which is relevant to
i) diabetes mellitus, the better known disease (which can be type 1 or type 2)
ii) a rarer disease, diabetes insipidus.
In both cases, the sufferers urinate a lot. However, the reasons behind this increase volume of urine are quite different.In diabetes insipidus, the kidney cannot retain water well, because a hormone is not at the right level (sometime following a bump to the head). It usually improves in time, and the sufferer can drink more to compensate.
Individuals with diabetes mellitus, either type 1 or type 2, can struggle to maintain well controlled blood sugar levels (neither too low or too high) – the kidneys, which usually manage to remove all sugars from the fluids used to make urine, cannot cope. There is still some sugar that passes in the urine, and this sugar draws even more water, which increases the urine volume.
Behind this faulty blood sugar control mechanism is insulin, a hormone from the pancreas. Cells of the body need a special signal to let the glucose in (for fuel) and to help control the blood sugar levels. This signal is produced by insulin. People with type 1 diabetes cannot make insulin, because their pancreas is damaged. People with type 2 diabetes can make (some) insulin but the cells cannot “read the signal” well.
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Sarah Jose answered on 6 Mar 2014:
Emilie has covered this well, but I’ll also add that women who previously did not have diabetes can develop it during pregnancy. This is called “gestational diabetes” and can affect 2-10% of pregnancies. Luckily it is treatable and temporary, although the babies are more likely to have birth complications like jaundice and low blood sugar.
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