Health and Fitness Information Center

Diabetes Vocabulary

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Atherosclerosis. The depositing of fatty, cholesterol-rich deposits along the artery walls. These deposits, atherosclerotic plaques, narrow the arteries, and play a key role in heart attack and stroke.

Autoimmunity. A condition in which the body's immune system mistakes its own cells for outside invaders and attacks them. Type 1 diabetes develops when the immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas, destroying them, and halting insulin production.

Beta Cells. The cells that make insulin. They are found in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, a comma-shaped gland located behind the stomach.

Blood glucose. Blood sugar, the body's main fuel. In diabetes, because of insulin resistance or lack of insulin, the body cannot move blood glucose out of the blood into the cells where it is used.

Blood-glucose meter. Is a hand-held device that measures the level of glucose in the blood. After sticking a finger with a small razor (lancet), you place a drop of blood on a test strip, and then insert it into the meter. The meter analyzes the glucose level, and a reading appears in about a minute.

CDE. Certified diabetes educator. A health professional who has passed a national exam demonstrating competence in counseling people with diabetes.

CSII. Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion. An insulin pump delivers this.