Diabetes is a disorder of the metabolism, or the way our body uses food for fuel.

Food we eat is broken down into glucose (sugar), which is our body's main source of fuel. When food is digested, it passes into the bloodstream where cells use it for fuel. The pancreas makes a hormone called insulin that enables the glucose to transfer into the cells from our blood. Glucose can't get into the cells without sufficient amounts of insulin.

Type 1 diabetes is a condition where your own immune system attacks and damages insulin producing cells in the pancreas. This condition usually develops earlier in life and is often diagnosed in children and young adults.
Living with Type 1 diabetes requires daily doses of insulin as the pancreas can not produce enough insulin to support the transfer of glucose into one's cells.

Type 2 diabetes affects more than 14 million Americans and is the most common form of the disease. It is a metabolic disorder that usually develops in adults over the age of 50. However increasing numbers of young adults and even children that are overweight and lead sedentary lifestyles, are being diagnosed with this form of diabetes.

With type 2 diabetes the pancreas can produce adequate amounts of insulin to metabolize glucose, but the body is unable to utilize it efficiently enough to maintain normal blood glucose levels.
Approximately 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2. This form of diabetes is associated with older age, physical inactivity, obesity, family history of diabetes, previous history of gestational diabetes, and ethnicity. About 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight.

Pre-Diabetes. Pre-diabetes is defined as having higher than normal blood sugar (glucose) levels but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.  Exercise and diet can reverse this and help you avoid diabetes type 2.

Exercise is the best treatment for people with both types of diabetes. First, exercise can take some glucose out of the blood to use for energy during and after exercise, which lowers blood glucose levels. Second, it helps delay or stop large blood vessel and heart (cardiovascular) disease.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of people with diabetes. All people with diabetes should exercise to counteract their increased risk of cardiovascular disease, to reach and maintain a healthy weight, and to enjoy them selves. An additional benefit for many people with diabetes is that exercise, and a healthy diet can help them achieve good blood glucose control.

Millions of Americans at high risk for type 2 diabetes can dramatically lower their chances of getting the disease through diet and exercise, according to a nationwide study at Johns Hopkins and 26 other medical centers.

According to diabetes expert Dr. Loren Wissner-Greene, a professor of endocrinology at New York University Medical Center, "Type II diabetes can be prevented, and the tools (diet & exercise) are available to everyone."

Increasing your physical activity is one of the most helpful things you can do for yourself, especially if you have diabetes. This doesn't necessarily mean joining a health club,