Diabetes is a group of diseases characterized by a lack of the hormone insulin, which results in abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood. They may be the result of conditions such as genetic syndromes, chemicals, drugs, malnutrition, infections, viruses or other illnesses.
The three main types of diabetes -- type 1, type 2 and gestational -- are all defined as metabolic disorders that affect the way the body metabolizes, or uses, digested food to make glucose, the main source of fuel for the body.
 How Does Diabetes Affect Blood Glucose?
For glucose to be able to move into the cells of the body, the hormone insulin must be present. Insulin is produced in the pancreas, and normally, is readily available to move glucose into the cells.
In people who have diabetes, either the pancreas produces too little or no insulin, or the cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. This causes a build-up of glucose in the blood, which passes into the urine where it is eventually eliminated, leaving the body without its main source of fuel.
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