Cheryl Webster, age 10, of Palatine, I11., for her question:

WHAT IS DIABETES?

There are about a million deaths in the United States each year from heart and blood vessel diseases. Second killer is cancer with about 350,000 deaths a year, and influenza and pneumonia coming in third with about 60,000 deaths. Fourth disease in terms of fatal illness is diabetes mellitus with about 37,000 deaths each year in the United States.

Diabetes is a name given to two diseases. Each has the same sign: excessive urination. Most common of the two is diabetes mellitus, which occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough of the hormone insulin. The second disease is diabetes insipidus, which results when the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland or the hypothalamus, a part of the brain, does not function normally.

An abnormal amount of sugar is found in the blood and in the urine of a person with diabetes mellitus. Insulin enables a body to store and burn the sugar in food properly. But when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, the body cannot use or store sugar normally.

With diabetes mellitus, excess sugar builds up in the blood. The kidneys give off some of the sugar in the urine.

Symptoms of diabetes mellitus may be great thirst, the passing of large amounts of urine, a loss of weight and also a loss of strength. Untreated diabetics will have a tendency to attacks of boils, carbuncles and other infections.

While diabetes cannot be cured, it can be controlled with injections of insulin and careful attention to diet. A person with diabetes can live as long, or even longer than, people with normal health because his family doctor can strengthen him with a proper eating plan.

A diabetic should not eat foods high in sugar, such as jam, cakes and cookies. He should choose foods that are rich in minerals and vitamins.

Diabetes insipidus is characterized by excessive passing of urine and by a great feeling of thirst. The condition results when the body has an insufficient amount of the hormone vasopressin, which is also called the antidiuretic hormone. Without vasopressin, the kidneys cannot hold back water that passes to them from the blood.

Diabetes insipidus can be controlled by injections of vasopressin.

In the treatment of diabetes mellitus, insulin must be given by injections. If taken by mouth, the hormone would be destroyed in the digestive system.

Several drugs have been developed that can be taken  by mouth which stimulate the pancreas to produce some insulin. Some doctors believe the drugs, which are occasionally used when diet cannot control blood sugar and injections are considered unnecessary, are harmful. A regular schedule of physical activity is recommended by doctors to reduce the effects of diabetes.