Online Class: Diabetes 101

Welcome to Diabetes 101: Understanding, Diagnosing and Managing. This introductory course regarding the topic of diabetes is designed to offer students a general understanding of what diabetes is, how it's diagnosed and how it's managed. Students will also learn the anatomy of diabetes, the body organs involved, and the different types of diabetes with which a person may be diagnosed.

This course also covers the importance of glucose and insulin and how each affects the overall function of your body. Symptoms of diabetes as well as what to expect when you visit a doctor are included in these lessons. Testing methods commonly used by diabetics to maintain their blood sugar and insulin levels are also explored. Understanding the basic tools a diabetic may need for daily management of diabetes are introduced, as are the different methods many individuals diagnosed with diabetes take in order to adapt their lifestyle to their condition at home, work, or school.

Students of this course on diabetes will learn about the most common types of complications associated with multiple forms of diabetes and the importance of care and infection prevention among diabetics, most specifically the elderly. Pregnant mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes will understand the importance of obstetrical and post-delivery care, and enjoy some tips and suggestions for healthy living habits before, during and after a planned pregnancy.

Throughout this course, students will also learn the importance of nutrition and diet for optimal management of diabetes symptoms and conditions. We'll explore a number of coping skills that diabetics can utilize to help prevent stress and depression. Finally, we'll wrap up this introductory course on diabetes by offering tips that every individual can take to help reduce their risk of developing the condition, or at the very least, minimize its impact on their lives.

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

Anatomy and Physiology 101

End of Life Care

Caring for Seniors

Course Motivation

According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, chances are that you know somebody who has diabetes. These institutes estimate that nearly 24 million people in the United States alone have diabetes, and nearly five million of those individuals don't know it.

Unfortunately, diabetes, which for the most part used to be considered an "adult's disease", today now afflicts younger individuals because of increasingly poor diets, lack of exercise, and obesity. Diabetes may also be caused by other conditions, including pancreatic diseases, endocrine system abnormalities or disease processes, and even infections and medications.

Anatomy of Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease process that affects the endocrine system. The endocrine system involves the body's glands. Also known as diabetes mellitus, the condition affects the body's:

• Thyroid
• Parathyroid
• Thymus
• Adrenal glands
• Pancreas
• Pituitary gland
• Male and female sexual glands including the testes and ovaries

The pancreas is an important organ involved in the endocrine system. If the pancreas secretes too much or too little of specific hormones, your health and wellness and your overall body function can literally be thrown out of whack.

Diabetes affects the way the body digests food. Normally, food is broken down into a form of sugar found in the blood, called glucose, the body's main source of energy or fuel. After food digests, glucose flows through the bloodstream and into the body's cellular tissues. However, in order for glucose to actually get into the body's cells, a hormone known as insulin must be present in the body. Insulin is created by the pancreas, one of the largest glands in the body, located behind the stomach.

Under optimal conditions, the pancreas produces the exact correct amount of insulin needed by glucose to move into cells. However, with individuals diagnosed with diabetes, the pancreas either doesn't produce enough or doesn't create any insulin for this well-balanced function. Sometimes, a person's body doesn't react properly to the insulin produced by the pancreas. Such conditions result in a form of diabetes, depending on which condition is diagnosed.

When the body doesn't produce the hormone insulin or doesn't react to it properly, glucose builds up in the blood. Excess glucose is excreted out of the body in urine, resulting in a body left without its main source of fuel.

The pancreas itself is made up of special cells and tissues. These tissues secrete special digestive enzymes through ducts; these enzymes are important in the processing and digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and other vital nutrients found in the body.

Pancreatic tissues are made up of three different types of cells:     

• Alpha  
• Beta   
• Delta

A few basic vocabulary words are essential to understanding the process through which the pancreas functions as well as what can happen when these balances are off. Here are some of the basics:

• Glucose - a form of sugar created in the body that circulates in the blood, used for energy by the body's cells. 
•  Glucagon - a hormone produced by the pancreas. This hormone is important in raising blood glucose levels in the body when they're low.
• Insulin - a hormone produced by the pancreas that regulates metabolism of fat and carbohydrates in the body and controls levels of glucose in the blood.
  

Type One Diabetes

Type One diabetes, also commonly Type I, is a form of diabetes where an individual's body makes very little insulin or none at all. Such individuals must take oral or injectable insulin in order to enjoy optimal health and wellness. Type One diabetes is also known as juvenile diabetes, but this doesn't mean the condition just affects children. This is because most forms of this type of diabetes are diagnosed in either childhood or adolescence. However, adults can develop Type One diabetes. 

Type Two Diabetes

Type Two diabetes (also designated as Type II) is the form of the disease where an individual's body does make insulin, but for unknown reasons, the body is resistant to it. This form of the disease is also known as adult onset diabetes. Today, more younger people and children are diagnosed with Type Two diabetes as a direct result of obesity.

Type Two diabetes is the most common form of the disease and accounts for nearly 95% of individuals diagnosed. According to statistics, diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. This form of diabetes is increasingly treatable, and many people can reduce their chances of developing the disease through lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. Other individuals diagnosed with pre-diabetic conditions and even some forms of diabetes can actually reverse the progression of the disease and lead normal, happy, healthy lives. 

Gestational Diabetes