There are two major types of diabetes, called type 1 and type 2. Both are chronic conditions (incurable) but they both can be treated with insulin.  Type 1 diabetes (also referred to as juvenile onset diabetes, is a disease where the pancreas undergoes an autoimmune attack by the body itself and becomes unable to make insulin. 

Type 1 diabetes is believed to be genetically inherited and tends to occur in young, lean individuals, usually before 30 years of age. People with type 1 diabetes must rely on insulin medication for survival.

Type 2 diabetes (which is by far the most common) is a condition where patients can still produce insulin, but not enough for their body's needs. With type 2, the amount of beta cells that produce insulin go down while the level of blood sugars in the body goes up. People are not born with type 2 diabetes – it usually occurs due to lifestyle factors such as being overweight, having high blood pressure, improper diet, cigarette smoking and excessive drinking of alcohol.

How it Affects Black Men

Diabetes is one of the top 10 killers of black men and is a major issue in the black community primarily because of the obesity issue. Because many black men do not have a healthy diet, their bodies are a fertile breeding ground for diabetes. Unfortunately when black men have diabetes, they're also much more likely to develop one or more serious complications associated with the disease, including amputation, kidney failure, blindness, and cardiovascular disease. For example, African Americans are 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to have a limb amputated than are others with diabetes.

Approximately 2.7 million or 11.4% of all African Americans aged 20 years or older have diabetes -- but at least one-third of them don't know it.  The average African American born today has a 50% chance of developing type 2 diabetes in his or her lifetime.