The term Diabetes includes a number of disorders in the process of metabolism and metabolism of carbohydrates.

Normal metabolism

Carbohydrates that the body gets from eating bread, potatoes, rice, cakes and many other foods, are gradually broken down and decomposed.

This process of disintegration and decomposition begins in the stomach and then continues in the duodenum (Duodenum) and in the small intestine.

This process of disintegration and degradation produces a group of sugars (carbohydrates) that are absorbed into the circulation.

Internal secretion cells in the pancreas, which are called beta cells, are very sensitive to high blood sugar levels and secrete the hormone insulin.

Insulin is an essential bridge for the entry of sugar molecules, glucose, into muscles where it is used as an energy source, and into fat and liver tissue where it is stored.

Glucose reaches the brain, too, but without the help of insulin.

In the pancreas, another type of cell is alpha cells, which secrete another extra hormone called Glucagon. This hormone causes sugar to be excreted from the liver and activates the action of other hormones that block the action of insulin.

The balance between these two hormones (insulin and glucagon) keeps the level of glucose in the blood stable and avoids severe changes.

People of a healthy weight and a lot of physical activity need a small amount of insulin to balance the action of glucose entering the blood. The more obese and less physically fit a person is, the more insulin is needed to process an equivalent amount of glucose in the blood. This condition is called "insulin resistance."