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Diabetes is a severe, life-threatening condition in which the body loses its ability to turn glucose (sugar) from food into usable energy. An interesting fact, according to The American Heritage College dictionary, diabetes is named for one of it’s symptoms. The disease was known to the Greeks as diabetes, a word derived from the verb diabainein, made up of the prefix dia-, “across, apart,” and the word bainen, “ to walk, stand “. The verb diabeinien meant “ to stride, walk or stand with legs apart”; Hence, its derivative diabetes meant “ one that straddles” or “ a compass siphon”. The sense “siphon” gave rise to the use of diabetes as the name for a disease involving the discharge of excessive amounts of urine. (Pg.382) The muscle cells and other tissues in the body require certain specific levels of glucose and carbohydrates to maintain their functions. The level of glucose absorbed into the bloodstream by the intestines, and the method by which glucose enters the body’s cells, is controlled by a hormone called insulin.
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