Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high.
The two main types of diabetes are:
type 1 diabetes
type 2 diabetes
The difference between the two types of diabetes is explained below.
In the UK, diabetes affects approximately 2.9 million people. There are also thought to be around 850,000 people with undiagnosed diabetes.
Symptoms of diabetes
The main symptoms of diabetes are:
feeling very thirsty
urinating frequently, particularly at night
feeling very tired
weight loss and loss of muscle bulk
Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly, over weeks or even days.
Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising because early symptoms tend to be general.
However, if you have diabetes, your body is unable to break down glucose into energy. This is because there is either not enough insulin to move the glucose, or the insulin produced does not work properly.