What is diabetes?
Answer:
At its simplest diabetes is an inability to metabolise the sugars and carbohydrates in the body as a result of a lack of the hormone insulin. It affects 3-4 percent of the population in Australia and NZ. There are two forms of diabetes, known as Type I and Type II.
Type I (insulin-dependent diabetes) commonly appears in younger people (10-20 years) and Type II (non-insulin-dependent diabetes) commonly in older people.
Type II can sometimes be controlled by careful control of diet.