Definition of diabetes Diabetes mellitus is a disorder of the carbohydrate metabolism, caused by an insulin deficiency or due to reduced insulin sensitivity. This results in excess sugar in the blood, referred to correctly as hyperglycaemia. This excess sugar occurs either with an empty stomach or after meals. As already mentioned at the beginning, there are two fundamentally different clinical pictures of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes: Relates to around ten percent of diabetics, partly also referred to as adolescent or “juvenile” diabetes. The current state of research is that type 1 diabetes is regarded as a type of autoimmune disease. An autoimmune reaction is induced, if antibodies are formed against the body’s own tissue – for various regions. A de facto, absolute insulin deficiency exists. However, until the first symptoms appear, it can take several weeks, months or even years in individual cases. However, around 80% of the cells, which form insulin, are then already destroyed. Type 2 diabetes: This type of diabetes is regarded as a widespread and civilisation disease, around 90 percent of diabetics receive this diagnosis. In the vernacular, this is also referred to as “old-age diabetes”, as this form usually only occurs from the age of 40, according to the current state of research. It is not uncommon for persons affected to be diagnosed with adiposity, i.e. severe obesity, at the same time. In contrast to type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes mellitus is still in conjunction with maintained insulin production. The typical clinical picture is the circumstance that insulin resistance is formed increasingly – cells become more and more insensitive to insulin.