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D
Diabetes - Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder when sugar in teh blood is not efficiently moved into the muscles, either because of lack of a "carrier", or because the muscles have difficulty accepting blood sugar. A high presence of sugar over a long period of time leads to a number of problems including kidney failure, high blood pressure, clogged artiries and poor wound healing.
The word "diabetes" is borrowed from the Greek word meaning "a siphon." The second-century A.D. Greek physician, Aretus the Cappadocian, named the condition "diabetes." He explained that patients with it had polyuria and "passed water like a siphon." This is consequinces of the blody trying to excrete the excess sugar in the blood.
When "diabetes" is used alone, it refers to diabetes mellitus. The two main types of diabetes mellitus -- insulin-requiring type 1 diabetes and adult-onset type 2 diabetes -- are distinct and different diseases in themselves.
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