Diabetes mellitus is often referred to as a silent killer if proper treatment is not meted out. It is undoubtedly a disease of epidemic proportions that affects people of all age groups including young children. A worrying a fact is that although the number of diabetes affected people are increasing but most of them are unaware of the real factors that can cause diabetes.

What is Diabetes ?
It is basically a disorder of metabolic nature in which either a body does not produce enough insulin or if it does produce it does not use it appropriately. Insulin is a hormone that is used in converting glucose into energy. Glucose on the other hand is regular sugar occurring in food that is absorbed by intestinal cells  in to the main bloodstream. Lack of insulin in the body causes the level of glucose to go at a very high level. A person suffering from diabetes will have a very small amount of insulin or no insulin in his body which causes a condition called hyperglycemia.

Types of Diabetes
There are three types of diabetes. First one is known as Type 1 which is the most severe form of diabetes. Second type is known as Type 2 which can be controlled to a certain level through proper care and treatment and the third one is Gestational diabetes which generally occurs during the second half of pregnancy and usually goes away once the child is delivered.

Causes
Type one diabetes as we mentioned above is the most severe form of diabetes and people suffering from it have to take daily insulin treatment to sustain life. Almost 10%  diabetics have this form of diabetes. It can be hereditary in nature while some researchers have also found out that it viral infections could also cause type 1 diabetes in people who are genetically susceptible ie, if someone already is diagnosed with diabetes in their family.

Type 2 diabetes is a non insulin dependent condition in which a body develops resistance to insulin. In this type of diabetes although a body may produce insulin normally but the body is unable to use it properly. People who are obese, stressed out, aging, living a sedentary lifestyle are highly prone to this type of diabetes and yes it can genetic as well. More than 85% diabetics have this type of diabetes only.

Gestational Diabetes
As we mentioned above this is the least dangerous type of diabetes which ails pregnant women. It is caused when pregnancy hormones block insulin receptors which leads to increased blood glucose levels. Women who develop his condition are more prone to type 2 diabetes than other women.