DIESEL ENGINES - How Diesel Engines Work - In a diesel engine the air is compressed first, and then the fuel is injected. Because air heats up when it's compressed, the fuel ignites. The diesel engine has no spark plug, it intakes air and compresses it, and that it then injects the fuel directly into the combustion chamber (direct injection). It is the heat of the compressed air that lights the fuel in a diesel engine.

Diesel Engines

The 4.5-liter V-8 Duramax improves efficiency by 25 percent

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How Diesel Engines Work

BY MARSHALL BRAIN

What is the difference between a gasoline and a diesel engine?

Diesel's story actually begins with the invention of the gasoline engine. Nikolaus August Otto had invented and patented the gasoline engine by 1876.

This invention used the four-stroke combustion principle, also known as the "Otto Cycle," and it's the basic premise for most car engines today.

In its early stage, the gasoline engine wasn't very efficient, and other major methods of transportation such as the steam engine fared poorly as well.

Only about 10 percent of the fuel used in these types of engines actually moved a vehicle. The rest of the fuel simply produced useless heat.

Rudolf Diesel, 

inventor of the diesel engine.

I­n 1878, Rudolf Diesel was attending the Polytechnic High School of Germany (the equivalent of an engineering college) when he learned about the low efficiency of gasoline and steam engines.

This disturbing information inspired him to create an engine with a higher efficiency, and he devoted much of his time to developing a "Combustion Power Engine."

By 1892 Diesel had obtained a patent for what we now call the diesel engine.

If diesel engines are so efficient, why don't we use them more often?

You might see the words "diesel engine" and think of big, hefty cargo trucks spewing out black, sooty smoke and creating a loud clattering noise.

This negative image of diesel trucks and engines has made diesel less attractive to casual drivers in the United States -- although diesel is great for hauling large shipments over long distances, it hasn't been the best choice for everyday commuters.

This is starting to change, however, as people are improving the diesel engine to make it cleaner and less noisy.

In theory, diesel engines and gasoline engines are quite similar. They are both internal combus­tion engines designed to convert the chemical energy available in fuel into mechanical energy.

This mechanical energy moves pistons up and down inside cylinders.

The pistons are connected to a crankshaft, and the up-and-down motion of the pistons, known as linear motion, creates the rotary motion needed to turn the wheels of a car forward.

Both diesel engines and gasoline engines convert fuel into energy through a series of small explosions or combustions.

The major difference between diesel and gasoline is the way these explosions happen.

In a gasoline engine, fuel is mixed with air, compressed by pistons and ignited by sparks from spark plugs.

In a diesel engine, however, the air is compressed first, and then the fuel is injected. Because air heats up when it's compressed, the fuel ignites.

The diesel engine uses a four-stroke combustion cycle just like a gasoline engine. The four strokes are:

·      Intake stroke -- The intake valve opens up, letting in air and moving the piston down. ­

·      Compression stroke -- The piston moves back up and compresses the air.

·      Combustion stroke -- As the piston reaches the top, fuel is injected at just the right moment and ignited, forcing the piston back down.

·      Exhaust stroke -- The piston moves back to the top, pushing out the exhaust created from the combustion out of the exhaust valve.

Remember that the diesel engine has no spark plug, that it intakes air and compresses it, and that it then injects the fuel directly into the combustion chamber (direct injection).

It is the heat of the compressed air that lights the fuel in a diesel engine. In the next section, we'll examine the diesel injection process.

COMPRESSION

When working on his calculations, Rudolf Diesel theorized that higher compression leads to higher efficiency and more power.

This happens because when the piston squeezes air with the cylinder, the air becomes concentrated.

Diesel fuel has a high energy content, so the likelihood of diesel reacting with the concentrated air is greater.

Another way to think of it is when air molecules are packed so close together, fuel has a better chance of reacting with as many oxygen molecules as possible.

Rudolf turned out to be right -- a gasoline engine compresses at a ratio of 8:1 to 12:1, while a diesel engine compresses at a ratio of 14:1 to as high as 25:1.

Diesel Fuel Injection

One big difference between a diesel engine and a gas engine is in the injection process.

six-cylinder diesel engine

Most car engines use port injection or a carburetor. A port injection system injects fuel just prior to the intake stroke (outside the cylinder).

A carburetor mixes air and fuel long before the air enters the cylinder.

In a car engine, therefore, all of the fuel is loaded into the cylinder during the intake stroke and then compressed.

The compression of the fuel/air mixture limits the compression ratio of the engine -- if it compresses the air too much, the fuel/air mixture spontaneously ignites and causes knocking.

Because it causes excessive heat, knocking can damage the engine.

Diesel engines use direct fuel injection -- the diesel fuel is injected directly into the cylinder.

The injector on a diesel engine is its most complex component and has been the subject of a great deal of experimentation -- in any particular engine, it may be located in a variety of places.

The injector has to be able to withstand the temperature and pressure inside the cylinder and still deliver the fuel in a fine mist.

Getting the mist circulated in the cylinder so that it is evenly distributed is also a problem, so some diesel engines employ special induction valves, pre-combustion chambers or other devices to swirl the air in the combustion chamber or otherwise improve the ignition and combustion process.

Some diesel engines contain a glow plug.

When a diesel engine is cold, the compression process may not raise the air to a high enough temperature to ignite the fuel.

The glow plug is an electrically heated wire (think of the hot wires you see in a toaster) that heats the combustion chambers and raises the air temperature when the engine is cold so that the engine can start.

According to Cley Brotherton, a Journeyman heavy equipment technician:

“All functions in a modern engine are controlled by the ECM communicating with an elaborate set of sensors measuring everything from R.P.M. to engine coolant and oil temperatures and even engine position (i.e. T.D.C.). Glow plugs are rarely used today on larger engines. The ECM senses ambient air temperature and retards the timing of the engine in cold weather so the injector sprays the fuel at a later time. The air in the cylinder is compressed more, creating more heat, which aids in starting.”

Smaller engines and engines that do not have such advanced computer control use glow plugs to solve the cold-starting problem.

Of course, mechanics aren't the only difference between diesel engines and gasoline engines. There's also the issue of the fuel itself.

Diesel Fuel

A sample of diesel fuel

Petroleum fuel starts off as crude oil that's naturally found in the Earth.

When crude oil is processed at refineries, it can be separated into several different kinds of fuels, including gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene and, of course, diesel.

If you have ever compared diesel fuel and gasoline, you know that they are different. They certainly smell different.

Diesel fuel is heavier and oilier. It evaporates much more slowly than gasoline -- its boiling point is actually higher than the boiling point of water.

You will often hear diesel fuel referred to as "diesel oil" because it's so oily.

Diesel fuel evaporates more slowly because it is heavier. It contains more carbon atoms in longer chains than gasoline does (gasoline is typically C9H20, while diesel fuel is typically C14H30).

It takes less refining to create diesel fuel, which is why it used to be cheaper than gasoline.

Since 2004, however, demand for diesel has risen for several reasons, including increased industrialization and construction in China and the U.S.

Diesel fuel has a higher energy density than gasoline. On average, 1 gallon (3.8 L) of diesel fuel contains approximately 155x10⁶ joules (147,000 BTU), while 1 gallon of gasoline contains 132x10⁶ joules (125,000 BTU).

This, combined with the improved efficiency of diesel engines, explains why diesel engines get better mileage than equivalent gasoline engines.

Diesel fuel is used to power a wide variety of vehicles and operations.

It of course fuels the diesel trucks you see lumbering down the highway, but it also helps move boats, school buses, city buses, trains, cranes, farming equipment and various emergency response vehicles and power generators.

Think about how important diesel is to the economy -- without its high efficiency, both the construction industry and farming businesses would suffer immensely from investments in fuels with low power and efficiency.

About 94 percent of freight -- whether it's shipped in trucks, trains or boats -- relies on diesel.

In terms of the environment, diesel has some pros and cons.

The pros -- diesel emits very small amounts of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide, emissions that lead to global warming.

The cons -- high amounts of nitrogen compounds and particulate matter (soot) are released from burning diesel fuel, which lead to acid rain, smog and poor health conditions.

Diesel Improvements and Biodiesel

During the big oil crisis in the 1970s, European car companies started advertising diesel engines for commercial use as an alternative to gasoline.

Those who tried it out were a bit disappointed – the engines were very loud, and they would arrive home to find their cars covered from front to back in black soot -- the same soo­t responsible for smog in big cities.

Over the past 30 to 40 years, however, vast improvements have been made on engine performance and fuel cleanliness.

Direct injection devices are now controlled by advanced computers that monitor fuel combustion, increasing efficiency and reducing emissions.

Better-refined diesel fuels such as ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) will lower the amount of harmful emissions and upgrading engines to make them compatible with cleaner fuel is becoming a simpler process.

Other technologies such as CRT particulate filters and catalytic converters burn soot and reduce particulate matter, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons by as much as 90 percent.

You may have also heard of something called biodiesel. Is it the same as diesel?

Biodiesel is an alternative or additive to diesel fuel that can be used in diesel engines with little to no modifications to the engines themselves.

It's not made from petroleum -- instead it comes from plant oils or animal fats that have been chemically altered. (Interesting fact: Rudolf Diesel had originally considered vegetable seed oil as fuel for his invention.)

Biodiesel can either be combined with regular diesel or used completely by itself.

From “How Diesel Engines Work” by Marshall Brain

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/diesel.htm
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DIABETES. GLUCOSE AND INSULIN - There is no cure for diabetes; however, the disease can be treated and managed successfully. The key to treating diabetes is to closely monitor and manage your blood-glucose levels through exercise, diet and medications. The exact treatment regime depends on the type of diabetes. You have to watch your diet to keep track of the carbohydrate and fat contents, and you must exercise frequently. Depending on the severity of your diabetes, you may have to take medication to aid in controlling your blood glucose.

.................................

Diabetes A Growing Health Problem

How Diabetes Works  

BY CRAIG FREUDENRICH, PH.D.

Odds are that you know someone with diabetes mellitus, possibly even someone who has to take insulin each day to manage the disease.

Diabetes is a growing health problem in the United States and has risen about six-fold since 1950, now affecting approximately 20.8 million Americans.

About one-third of those 20.8 million do not know that they have the disease.

Diabetes-related health care costs total nearly $100 billion per year and are increasing.

Diabetes contributes to over 200,000 deaths each year.

To understand diabetes, you first need to know about how your body uses a hormone called insulin to handle glucose, a simple sugar that is its main source of energy.

In diabetes, something goes wrong in your body so that you do not produce insulin or are not sensitive to it.

Therefore, your body produces high levels of blood glucose, which act on many organs to produce the symptoms of the disease.

In this article, we will examine this serious disease. We will look at how your body handles glucose.

We'll find out what insulin is and what it does, how the lack of insulin or insulin-insensitivity affects your body functions to produce the symptoms of diabetes, how the disease is currently treated and what future treatments are in store for diabetics.

Blood Glucose and Insulin

Since diabetes is a disease that affects your body's ability to use glucose, let's start by looking at what glucose is and how your body controls it. 

Glucose is a simple sugar that provides energy to all of the cells in your body.

The cells take in glucose from the blood and break it down for energy (some cells, like brain cells and red blood cells, rely solely on glucose for fuel).

The glucose in the blood comes from the food that you eat.

When you eat food, glucose gets absorbed from your intestines and distributed by the bloodstream to all of the cells in your body.

Your body tries to keep a constant supply of glucose for your cells by maintaining a constant glucose concentration in your blood -- otherwise, your cells would have more than enough glucose right after a meal and starve in between meals and overnight.

So, when you have an oversupply of glucose, your body stores the excess in the liver and muscles by making glycogen, long chains of glucose.

When glucose is in short supply, your body mobilizes glucose from stored glycogen and/or stimulates you to eat food. The key is to maintain a constant blood-glucose level.

To maintain a constant blood-glucose level, your body relies on two hormones produced in the pancreas that have opposite actions: insulin and glucagon.

Insulin is made and secreted by the beta cells of the pancreatic islets, small islands of endocrine cells in the pancreas.

Insulin is a protein hormone that contains 51 mino acids.

Insulin is required by almost all of the body's cells, but its major targets are liver cells, fat cells and muscle cells.

For these cells, insulin does the following:

·   Stimulates liver and muscle cells to store glucose in glycogen

·   Stimulates fat cells to form fats from fatty acids and glycerol

·   Stimulates liver and muscle cells to make proteins from amino acids

·   Inhibits the liver and kidney cells from making glucose from intermediate compounds of metabolic pathways (gluconeogenesis)

As such, insulin stores nutrients right after a meal by reducing the concentrations of glucose, fatty acids and amino acids in the bloodstream.

Glucagon and Blood Sugar Levels

So, what happens when you do not eat?

In times of fasting, your pancreas releases glucagon so that your body can produce glucose. 

Glucagon is another protein hormone that is made and secreted by the alpha cells of the pancreatic islets.

Glucagon acts on the same cells as insulin, but has the opposite effects:

·   Stimulates the liver and muscles to break down stored glycogen (glycogenolysis) and release the glucose

·   Stimulates gluconeogenesis in the liver and kidneys

In contrast to insulin, glucagon mobilizes glucose from stores inside your body and increases the concentrations of glucose in the bloodstream -- otherwise, your blood glucose would fall to dangerously low levels.

So how does your body know when to secrete glucagon or insulin? Normally, the levels of insulin and glucagon are counter-balanced in the bloodstream.

For example, just after you eat a meal, your body is ready to receive the glucose, fatty acids and amino acids absorbed from the food.

The presence of these substances in the intestine stimulates the pancreatic beta cells to release insulin into the blood and inhibit the pancreatic alpha cells from secreting glucagon.

The levels of insulin in the blood begin to rise and act on cells (particularly liver, fat and muscle) to absorb the incoming molecules of glucose, fatty acids and amino acids.

This action of insulin prevents the blood-glucose concentration (as well as the concentrations of fatty acids and amino acids) from substantially increasing in the bloodstream.

In this way, your body maintains a steady blood-glucose concentration in particular.

In contrast, when you are between meals or sleeping, your body is essentially starving. Your cells need supplies of glucose from the blood in order to keep going.

During these times, slight drops in blood-sugar levels stimulate glucagon secretion from the pancreatic alpha cells and inhibit insulin secretion from the beta cells. Blood-glucagon levels rise.

Glucagon acts on liver, muscle and kidney tissue to mobilize glucose from glycogen or to make glucose that gets released into the blood. This action prevents the blood-glucose concentration from falling drastically.

As you can see, the interplay between insulin and glucagon secretions throughout the day help to keep your blood-glucose concentration constant, staying at about 90 mg per 100 ml of blood (5 millimolar).

GLUCAGON

At very high concentrations, generally above the maximum levels found in the body, glucagon can act on fat cells to break down fats into fatty acids and glycerol, releasing the fatty acids into the bloodstream. However, this is a pharmacological effect, not a physiological one.

Diabetes

Now that you know how your body handles glucose with insulin and glucagon, you are ready to understand diabetes.

Diabetes is classified into three types: Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes.

Type 1 (also called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes) is caused by a lack of insulin. This type is found in five percent to 10 percent of diabetics and usually occurs in children or adolescents. Type 1 diabetics have an abnormal glucose-tolerance test and little or no insulin in their blood. In Type 1 diabetics, the beta cells of the pancreatic islets are destroyed, possibly by the person's own immune system, genetic or environmental factors.

Type 2 (also called adult-onset diabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes) occurs when the body does not respond or can't use its own insulin (insulin resistance). Type 2 occurs in 90 percent to 95 percent of diabetics and usually occurs in adults over the age of 40, most often between the ages of 50 and 60. Type 2 diabetics have an abnormal glucose-tolerance test and higher than normal levels of insulin in their blood. In Type 2 diabetics, the insulin resistance is linked to obesity, but we do not know exactly how this occurs. Some studies suggest that the number of insulin receptors on liver, fat and muscle cells is reduced, while others suggest that the intracellular pathways activated by insulin in these cells are altered.

Gestational diabetes can occur in some pregnant women and is similar to Type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetics have an abnormal glucose-tolerance test and slightly higher levels of insulin. During pregnancy, several hormones partially block the actions of insulin, thereby making the woman less sensitive to her own insulin. She develops a diabetes that can be managed by special diets and/or supplemental injections of insulin. It usually goes away after the baby is delivered.

Regardless of the type of diabetes, diabetics exhibit several (but not necessarily all) of the following symptoms:

·  Excessive thirst (polydipsia)

·  Frequent urination (polyuria)

·  Extreme hunger or constant eating (polyphagia)

·  Unexplained weight loss

·  Presence of glucose in the urine (glycosuria)

·  Tiredness or fatigue

·  Changes in vision

·  Numbness or tingling in the extremities (hands, feet)

·  Slow-healing wounds or sores

·  Abnormally high frequency of infection

These symptoms can be understood when we see how insulin deficiency or insulin resistance affects the body's physiology.

DIABETES MELLITUS AND GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TESET

The name "diabetes mellitus" means "sweet urine." It stems from ancient times, when physicians would taste a patient's urine as a part of diagnosis.

A Glucose Tolerance Test is a diagnostic test for diabetes. After fasting overnight, you are given a concentrated sugar solution (50 to 100 grams of glucose) to drink, and your blood is sampled periodically over the next several hours to test its glucose levels.

Normally, blood glucose does not rise very much and returns to normal within two to three hours. In a diabetic, the blood glucose is usually higher after fasting, rises more after the glucose solution and takes from four to six hours to come down.

Insulin Ineffectiveness

Now that you know the symptoms of diabetes -- high blood glucose, excessive hunger and thirst, frequent urination -- let's look at what happens to your body during diabetes.

For the purposes of this discussion, let's suppose that you have undiagnosed, and therefore unmanaged, diabetes.

Now, let's see how the lack of insulin or insulin-resistance affects your body to produce the clinical symptoms and signs of diabetes:

Your lack of insulin or insulin resistance directly causes high blood-glucose levels during fasting and after a meal (reduced glucose tolerance).

1. Because your body either does not produce or does not respond to insulin, your cells do not absorb glucose from your bloodstream, which causes you to have high blood-glucose levels.

2. Because your cells have no glucose coming into them from your blood, your body "thinks" that it is starving.

3. Your pancreatic alpha cells secrete glucagon, and glucagon levels in your blood rise.

4.  Glucagon acts on your liver and muscles to breakdown stored glycogen and release glucose into the blood.

5. Glucagon also act on your liver and kidneys to produce and release glucose by gluconeogenesis.

6. Both of these actions of glucagon further raise your blood-glucose levels.

High blood glucose causes glucose to appear in your urine.

1.  High blood-glucose levels increase the amount of glucose filtered by your kidneys.

2. The amount of glucose filtered exceeds the amount that your kidneys can reabsorb.

3. The excess glucose gets lost into the urine and can be detected by glucose test strips.

High blood glucose causes you to urinate frequently.

1. High blood glucose increases the amount of glucose filtered by your kidneys.

2. Because the filtered load of glucose in your kidneys exceeds the amount that they can reabsorb, glucose remains inside the tubule lumen.

3. The glucose in the tubule retains water, which increases urine flow through the tubule.

4. The increased urine flow causes you to urinate frequently.

The high blood glucose and increased urine flow make you constantly thirsty.

1. High blood-glucose levels increase the osmotic pressure of your blood and directly stimulate the thirst receptors in your brain.

2. Your increased urine flow causes you to lose body sodium, which also stimulates your thirst receptors.

You are constantly hungry. It's not clear exactly what stimulates your brain's hunger centers, possibly the lack of insulin or high glucagon levels.

1. You lose weight despite the fact that you are eating more frequently. The lack of insulin or insulin-resistance directly stimulates the breakdown of fats in fat cells and proteins in muscle, leading to weight loss.

2. Metabolism of fatty acids leads to the production of acidic ketones in the blood (ketoacidosis), which can lead to brething problems, the smell of acetone on your breath, irregularities in your heart and central-nervous-system depression, which leads to coma.

You feel tired because your cells cannot absorb glucose, leaving them with nothing to burn for energy.

1. Your hands and feet may feel cold because your high blood-glucose levels cause poor blood circulation.

2. High blood glucose increases the osmotic pressure of your blood.

3. The increased osmotic pressure draws water from your tissues, causing them to become dehydrated.

4. The water in your blood gets lost by the kidneys as urine, which decreases your blood volume.

5. The decreased blood volume makes your blood thicker (higher concentration of red blood cells), with a consistency like molasses, and more resistant to flow (poor circulation).

Your poor blood circulation causes numbness in your hands and feet, changes in vision, slow-healing wounds and frequent infections.

High blood glucose or lack of insulin may also depress the immune system. Ultimately, these can lead to gangrene in the limbs and blindness.

Fortunately, these consequences can be managed by correcting your high blood glucose through diet, exercise and medications, as we'll discuss next.

BLOOD GLUCOSE MONITORS

To monitor blood glucose, there are a number of commercial blood-glucose monitors.

Each one involves reacting a test strip with a drop of blood (finger prick). The glucose in the blood reacts chemically with an enzyme on the test strip called glucose oxidase.

The product of the reaction, gluconate, combines with another chemical to make the strip turn blue. The device measures the degree of color change to determine and display the concentration of glucose in the blood sample.

Treatments

As of now, there is no cure for diabetes; however, the disease can be treated and managed successfully.

The key to treating diabetes is to closely monitor and manage your blood-glucose levels through exercise, diet and medications. The exact treatment regime depends on the type of diabetes.

If you have Type 1 diabetes, you lack insulin and must administer it several times each day. Insulin injections are usually timed around meals to cope with the glucose load from digestion.

You must monitor your blood-glucose levels several times a day and adjust the amounts of insulin that you inject accordingly. This keeps your blood-glucose concentration from fluctuating wildly.

There are some implantable insulin infusion pumps that allow you to press a button and infuse insulin. If you inject too much insulin, you can drive your blood-glucose level well below normal (hypoglycemia).

This can cause you to feel light-headed and shaky because your brain cells are not receiving enough glucose (mild episodes can be relieved by eating a candy bar or drinking juice).

If your blood glucose goes really low, you can lapse into a coma (insulin shock), which can be life-threatening.

In addition to insulin injections, you have to watch your diet to keep track of the carbohydrate and fat contents, and you must exercise frequently. This treatment continues for the rest of your life.

If you have Type 2 diabetes, you can usually manage it by reducing your body weight through dieting and exercise.

You may have to monitor your blood glucose either daily or just when you visit your doctor. Depending on the severity of your diabetes, you may have to take medication to aid in controlling your blood glucose.

Most of the medicines for Type 2 diabetes are oral medications, and their actions fall into the following categories:

·   Stimulating the pancreas to release more insulin to help reduce blood glucose

·   Interfering with the absorption of glucose by the intestine, thereby preventing glucose from entering the bloodstream

·   Improving insulin sensitivity

·   Reducing glucose production by the liver

·   Helping to breakdown or metabolize glucose

·   Supplementing insulin directly in the bloodstream through injections

Like a Type 1 diabetic, a Type 2 diabetic is on this treatment for the rest of his or her life.

There are a number of alternative treatments for diabetes. These alternative treatments are not widely accepted, mainly due to lack of scientific research on their effectiveness or lack of scientific consensus. Such treatments include:

·  Acupuncture - This is an Eastern medical treatment whereby needles are inserted at various centers in the body to release natural painkillers, which may help in managing painful nerve damage in diabetes.

·  Biofeedback - This psychological technique involves using meditation, relaxation and stress-reduction methods to manage and relieve pain.

·  Chromium - Additional chromium in your diet may help your body make a glucose-tolerance factor that helps improve insulin action. However, the scientific information on chromium supplementation in diabetes is insufficient, and no consensus exists.

·  Magnesium - Diabetics tend to be deficient in magnesium, which can worsen the complications of diabetes, especially Type 2. The exact nature of the relationship between magnesium and diabetes is still under research, and no consensus has been reached.

·  Vanadium - Vanadium may normalize blood glucose in Type 1 and 2 diabetic animals, but there is not enough information available for humans. This area is currently under research.

As with any medical treatment, you should discuss treatment options with your physician. For more information on alternative treatments, see the NIDDK bulletin Alternative Therapies for Diabetes.

One of the most promising developments for future, perhaps permanent, treatments for Type 1 diabetes is pancreatic islet transplantation. In this technique, islets are removed from the pancreas of a deceased donor and injected through a thin tube (catheter) into the liver of a diabetic patient. After some time, the islet cells attach to new blood vessels and begin releasing insulin. Although early studies have shown some success, rejection of the donor's tissue is a major problem. Research continues in this field because of its great potential to treat diabetes.

PREVENTING DIABETES

Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or reduced by exercising frequently and watching your weight, especially as you get older. Take the Diabetes Risk Test to determine your risk for developing diabetes.

https://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/diabetes/diabetes.htm