Diabetes is a life-long condition affecting the way a person’s body turns food into energy leaving glucose (sugar) levels to rise in the blood.

Put simply, sugar comes from the food you eat and the body will break this down to glucose. A hormone called insulin is made in an organ called the pancreas and this plays a vital role to transport the glucose to the cells in the body and will turn it in to energy. Sometimes, the body will not make enough insulin or any at all, leaving glucose to float around in the blood without reaching the cells. This is where diabetes occurs.

There are two main types of diabetes, types 1 and 2 both affecting the body differently if left untreated.  The profiles below will explore the difference between both:

Please note this module will be exploring Type 2 Diabetes only due to the screening service being aimed at identifying people who may have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.