What is Diabetes?
By Caryle Regan
At the most elementary level diabetes is simply thick blood. How is that you ask? To begin to answer this question we will start with an explanation of what is insulin and what part does it play in your body.
Insulin is a substance that is produced in the pancreas which is located behind the stomach. Insulin acts like a “chemical key” which unlocks a membrane that surrounds each individual cell in your body. The cell membrane determines what will be allowed into the cell and what will be blocked out. When your body’s insulin production is insufficient and the “key” is not available to open the cell “door” (membrane) the cell does not receive the fuel it needs to perform its assigned job. The inability to open the cell “door” (membrane) is a disease called diabetes. Diabetes affects every single cell in your body,
So, what happens in the body is that a “log jam” occurs and there is a back up in your blood circulation. It goes like this. The cell prevents the nutrients, sugars, from entering, this then causes a backup into what is called the interstitial fluid which bathes each individual cell. Then the “log jam” backs up from the interstitial fluid to your circulatory system which is your veins and arteries.
The backup continues to move from the smallest veins and arteries, which are only one cell thick, to the much larger vessels. Now, in order for your heart to pump the blood effectively, the blood must be thin enough to fit through the single cell diameter of these small arteries without injuring these minute vessels. If the “log jam” is too thick and nutrients (sugars) can not enter into the cell and cellular debris can not be removed the cells die. This is called gangrene and it is the cause of foot amputation that can occur with diabetes. This is what also causes the kidney and eye problems in diabetics. The smallest vessels have been damaged thereby causing the organ failure.
Another thing that happens as a result of the “log jam” is that the body signals the brain that it needs more fluid in an attempt to dilute the thick blood. This causes a diabetic to be very thirsty.
So, diabetes is high blood sugar. It is what happens when the “log jam” is backed up.
How can you open the cell membrane and allow nutrients to enter the cells? This will be explained in the following article.