Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which your body either does not produce insulin or does not properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that your body needs to convert sugar, starches, fruits and other food into energy.

There are almost 24 million adults and children living in the United States, or 7.8% of the population, who have diabetes. While almost 18 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes, about 6 million more (or nearly 1 in 4 people) don't know that they have the disease.

Overview

When you eat or drink, insulin in the body is used to break down the sugars in the food into glucose, allowing the glucose to work inside your body's cells. It is the job of the pancreas to produce the insulin. If the insulin is not being produced for whatever reason, diabetes may be the diagnosis.