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Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. Glucose is your body's main source of energy. Your body can make glucose, but it also comes from the food you eat. Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas. Insulin helps move glucose from your bloodstream into your cells, where it can be used for energy.

If you have diabetes, your body can't make insulin, can't use insulin as well as it should, or both. Too much glucose stays in your blood and doesn't reach your cells. This can cause glucose levels to get too high. Over time, high blood glucose levels can lead to serious health conditions. But you can take steps to manage your diabetes and try to prevent these health problems.

There are different types of diabetes:

• Type 1 diabetes. If you have type 1 diabetes, your body makes little or no insulin. It happens when your immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin.
• Type 2 diabetes. This is the most common form of diabetes. If you have type 2 diabetes, your body may still be able to make insulin, but your cells don't respond well to insulin. They can't easily take up enough glucose from your blood.
• Gestational diabetes. This is a form of diabetes that develops during pregnancy. It happens when your body can't make the extra insulin it needs during pregnancy.

The different types of diabetes have different causes:

• Researchers think type 1 diabetes is caused by genes and factors in the environment that might trigger the disease.
• Type 2 diabetes is caused by several factors, including lifestyle factors and genes. The lifestyle factors include not being physically active and being overweight or having obesity.
• Researchers think gestational diabetes is caused by the hormonal changes of pregnancy along with genetic and lifestyle factors.

The different types of diabetes have different risk factors:

• You can develop type 1 diabetes at any age, but it most often starts in childhood. Having a parent or sibling with type 1 diabetes may increase your chance of developing it.
• You are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes if you:
• Are overweight or have obesity.
• Are over age 35. Children, teenagers, and younger adults can get diabetes, but it is more common in middle-aged and older adults.
• Have a family history of diabetes.
• Have prediabetes. This means that your blood glucose is higher than normal, but it's not high enough to be called diabetes.
• Had gestational diabetes.
• Have given birth to a baby weighing 9 pounds or more.
• Are African American, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, or Pacific Islander.
• Are not physically active.
• Have certain other health conditions, such as high blood pressure or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
• You are at higher risk of developing gestational diabetes if you:
• Are overweight or have obesity.
• Have a family history of diabetes.
• Had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy.
• Have given birth to a baby weighing 9 pounds or more.
• Have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
• Are African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander.

The symptoms of diabetes may include:

• Feeling very thirsty
• Feeling very hungry
• Urinating (peeing) more often, including at night
• Fatigue
• Blurry vision
• Numbness or tingling in the feet or hands
• Sores that do not heal
• Losing weight without trying

But it's important to know that your symptoms may vary, depending on which type you have:

• The symptoms of type 1 diabetes usually come on quickly and can be severe.
• With type 2 diabetes, the symptoms often develop slowly, over several years. The symptoms can be so mild that you might not even notice them.
• Gestational diabetes often has no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, they may be mild. If you are pregnant, you will usually be screened for this condition between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy.

To find out if you have diabetes, your health care provider will use one or more glucose blood tests. There are several types, including the A1C test.

Treatment for diabetes involves managing your blood glucose levels:

• If you have type 1 diabetes, you will need to take daily doses of insulin, either by injection or through a special pump. Some people also need to take another type of diabetes medicine that works with insulin.
• If you have type 2 diabetes, you may be able to manage or even reverse it by making lifestyle changes. These include eating a healthy diet, staying at healthy weight, and getting regular physical activity. Some people also need to take diabetes medicines to manage their diabetes.
• If you have gestational diabetes, you may be able to lower your glucose levels by eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise. But be sure to talk to your provider about your treatment options. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after you give birth. But you will have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later.

Checking your blood glucose levels is also an important part of managing your diabetes. Ask your provider about the best way to check your blood glucose level and how often you should check it.

Type 1 diabetes can't be prevented.

You may be able to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes through the same lifestyle changes that are used to manage diabetes (eating a healthy diet, staying at a healthy weight, and getting regular physical activity). These lifestyle changes may also help prevent gestational diabetes.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It harms your immune system by destroying CD4 cells. These are a type of white blood cells that fight infection. The loss of these cells makes it hard for your body to fight off infections and certain HIV-related cancers.

Without treatment, HIV can gradually destroy the immune system and advance to AIDS. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. It is the final stage of infection with HIV. Not everyone with HIV develops AIDS.

The treatment of HIV with medicines is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). It involves taking a combination of medicines every day. ART is recommended for everyone who has HIV. The medicines do not cure HIV infection, but help people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. They also reduce the risk of spreading the virus to others.

HIV medicines reduce the amount of HIV (viral load) in your body, which helps by:

• Giving your immune system a chance to recover. Even though there is still some HIV in your body, your immune system should be strong enough to fight off infections and certain HIV-related cancers.
• Reducing the risk that you will spread HIV to others.

There are many different types (called classes) of HIV medicines. Some work by blocking or changing enzymes that HIV needs to make copies of itself. This prevents HIV from copying itself, which reduces the amount of HIV in the body. Several types of medicines do this:

• Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) block an enzyme called reverse transcriptase
• Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) bind to and later change reverse transcriptase
• Integrase inhibitors, also called integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs), block an enzyme called integrase
• Protease inhibitors (PIs) block an enzyme called protease

Some types of HIV medicines interfere with HIV's ability to infect CD4 immune system cells:

• Fusion inhibitors block HIV from entering the cells
• CCR5 antagonists and post-attachment inhibitors block different molecules on the CD4 cells. To infect a cell, HIV has to bind to two types of molecules on the cell's surface. Blocking either of these molecules prevents HIV from entering the cells.
• Attachment inhibitors bind to a specific protein on the outer surface of HIV. This prevents HIV from entering the cell.

Pharmacokinetic enhancers are another type of medicine. They are sometimes taken along with certain other HIV medicines. Pharmacokinetic enhancers increase the effectiveness of the other medicine. They work by slowing the breakdown of the other medicine. This allows that medicine to stay in the body longer at a higher concentration.

There are also multidrug combinations, which include a combination of two or more different types of HIV medicines.

It's important to start taking HIV medicines as soon as possible after your diagnosis, especially if you:

• Are pregnant
• Have AIDS
• Have certain HIV-related illnesses and infections
• Have an early HIV infection (the first 6 months after infection with HIV)

You and your health care provider will work together to come up with a personal treatment plan. This plan will be based on many factors, including:

• The possible side effects of HIV medicines
• Potential drug interactions with any other medicines you take
• How many medicines you will need to take every day
• Any other health problems you may have

It's important to take your medicines every day, according to the instructions from your provider. If you miss doses or don't follow a regular schedule, your treatment may not work, and the HIV virus may become resistant to the medicines.

HIV medicines can cause side effects. Most of these side effects are manageable, but a few can be serious. Tell your provider about any side effects that you are having. Don't stop taking your medicine without first talking to your provider. There may be steps you can take to help manage the side effects. In some cases, your provider may decide to change your medicines.

HIV medicines are not just used for treatment. Some people take them to prevent HIV. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is for people who don't already have HIV but are at very high risk of getting it. PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) is for people who have possibly been exposed to HIV.

NIH: Office of AIDS Research

Your liver is the largest organ inside your body. It helps your body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons.

There are many kinds of liver diseases:

• Diseases caused by viruses, such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C
• Diseases caused by drugs, poisons, or too much alcohol. Examples include fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.
• Liver cancer
• Inherited diseases, such as hemochromatosis and Wilson disease

Symptoms of liver disease can vary, but they often include swelling of the abdomen and legs, bruising easily, changes in the color of your stool and urine, and jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and eyes. Sometimes there are no symptoms. Tests such as imaging tests and liver function tests can check for liver damage and help to diagnose liver diseases.