With diabetes mellitus, there are several different types of diabetes. These include:

Type 1 diabetes - also known as juvenile diabetes or "insulin dependant" diabetes
Type 2 diabetes - also known as "insulin resistant" diabetes or "adult onset" diabetes
Gestational diabetes - diabetes that develops during pregnancy
Pre-diabetes - this is your body's warning sign telling you that you need to make some health changes

Those with Type 1 diabetes will need to be on some type of insulin therapy for the remainder of their life.

For those with Type 2 diabetes, treatment is with diet, exercise and medication, or diet and exercise alone.

Gestational diabetes develops during pregnancy and can easily be treated. There are some cases where the mother will need to give herself insulin injections during the pregnancy. It also clears up as soon as the baby is delivered. But it does leave the mother at risk for further problems with diabetes either with future pregnancies or as she gets older.

There are a series of blood tests which your doctor can order the lab to do in order to diagnose if you have diabetes and if so, which type. The type is important as Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes need to be treated in different ways.

In the section "Diabetes Diagnosis" we will go further into what type of tests are done and what results are considered normal or abnormal.

There is a global diabetes epidemic underway. It is estimated that 30 million people globally had diabetes in 1985. 10 years later, the worldwide burden of diabetes was estimated to be 135 million. The latest World Health Organization (WHO) estimate - for the number of people with diabetes, globally, in 2000 - is 171 million. This is believed to increase to at least 366 million by 2030. 2 major concerns are that the majority of this increase will occur in developing countries, due to population growth, unhealthy diets, obesity, ageing, and sedentary lifestyles.

Learn More about Diabetes Diagnosis

	Diagnosis of Prediabetes Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when the level of glucose in the blood is higher than the normal limits but not quite high enough to diagnose as Type-2 diabetes. Research has shown that subjects who develop...Read more...
	Juvenile Diabetes Diagnosis Juvenile diabetes is also Type-1 diabetes as well as being known as “insulin dependent” diabetes.If your doctor suspects that you could have juvenile or Type-1 diabetes, he will need to do several tests to...Read more...
	Diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes With diabetes mellitus there are several forms of the disease.  The most common form is Type-2 diabetes which is also known as “adult onset” diabetes as well as “insulin resistant” diabetes...Read more...
	Gestational Diabetes Diagnosis When you become pregnant, your physician will check your blood glucose level as one of the normal battery of tests done with any care during pregnancy.  If you are in a risk group and your test results...Read more...
	Diagnosis of Diabetes Insipidus Since diabetes mellitus is much more frequent and because diabetes insipidus and diabetes mellitus do have symptoms which are similar, your doctor may believe that you have diabetes mellitus...Read more...
	Diagnosis of Diabetes in Dogs If your dog exhibits any of the symptoms of signs of diabetes mellitus, your vet will need to not only examine your dog but also run lab tests.The signs and symptoms of diabetes are often also seen in...Read more...
	Diagnosis of Diabetes in Cats If your cat shows some of the symptoms which are common in diabetes mellitus, it does not necessarily mean that your animal has diabetes. Most of the signs and symptoms of diabetes also occur...Read more...