The correct medical term is diabetes mellitus (to differentiate from diabetes insipidus). Diabetes is a Greek word that means 'to go through' while mellitus is the Greek word for 'honey'. Also called sugar diabetes, this is a condition that occurs when the body fails to produce insulin.

The body needs food so that it can use it as energy in order to perform daily tasks like walking, speaking, lifting objects & studying. Whenever food is digested, it breaks down into glucose (sugar) then gets absorbed straight into the bloodstream & is ready to be converted to energy by the body cells.

However insulin, which is a hormone produced by the pancreas (an organ near the abdomen) has to be present to stimulate the body cells to take in glucose.

For people with diabetes, the pancreas produces either ineffective or no insulin at all which will lead to a build up of glucose in the blood. This is dangerous because in serious cases, it could lead to heart attack, blindness, other eye diseases, kidney failure, stroke, gangrene (decay of the limbs), limb amputation & gum disease.

Type I - Insulin-dependent diabetes (also known as Juvenile onset diabetes). The pancreas produces no insulin. It is more severe but rare. Usually affects young people below 20.

Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease is the result of the body's protective immune system producing antibodies to attack it's own healthy cells & tissues. This is because the system is unable to differentiate between friend or invader & it can affect almost every part of the body including organs. Other examples of this disorder include rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, vasculitis & lupus.