ICD-Code R73.00: Type 1 diabetes mellitus, presymptomatic, stage 2

You have diabetes. This is also known as diabetes mellitus.

The sugar from food or from sweet drinks is absorbed via the intestine. The sugar gets into the blood there. As a result, the sugar level in the blood rises after eating. The pancreas produces the messenger substance insulin. The pancreas is located in the upper abdomen. Insulin ensures that the sugar from the blood is absorbed into the cells. After eating, especially, the pancreas releases insulin into the blood. As a result, the sugar level in the blood then drops back.

Insulin is produced by specific tissue in the pancreas. Your immune system has produced antibodies to combat this tissue. Over time, these antibodies destroy the tissue. As a result, the pancreas is gradually able to produce less and less insulin. If there is too little insulin in the blood, the cells can no longer absorb the sugar from the blood properly. This can cause blood sugar levels to rise. This is called Type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Various measurements can be used to assess a person’s blood glucose level. A glucose tolerance test measures blood glucose level at various points in time. You cannot eat for several hours before the first measurement is taken. You are then given a certain amount of sugar. It may be a sugar solution that is drunk. Alternatively, the sugar solution may be administered directly into a blood vessel. After a certain period of time, the sugar level in the blood is then measured again one or more times. Other measurements can also be used to measure blood glucose level over an extended period.

One or more of the measurements of sugar levels in your blood was higher than normal.