What You Need to Know About Diabetes

What You Need to Know About Diabetes

by | Nov 1, 2022 | Health & Wellness

Diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate in the United States. According to the CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control) National Diabetes Statistics Report for 2020 cases of diabetes have risen to an estimated 37 million (or 1 in 10 people in the U.S.).  November is National Diabetes Month and is a great time to bring attention to this disease and its impact on millions of Americans.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how your body converts food to energy. With diabetes, the body either no longer makes insulin or the insulin that is made no longer works as well as it should.  Either way, high levels of glucose (a form of sugar) build up in the blood.  When this happens, your body can respond in some serious ways that include liver damage, stroke, heart disease, vision loss, kidney disease and damage to the feet or legs.

Most Common Types of Diabetes

  • Type 1 – usually diagnosed in children and teens. Type 1 diabetics need to take insulin every day to survive.
  • Type 2 – develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults (but is developing more today in children and teens also). With Type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels.
  • Gestational Diabetes – develops in pregnant women who have never had diabetes.

7 Warning Signs of Diabetes

  1. Frequent Urination
  2. Increased Thirst or Dry Mouth
  3. Unexpected Weight Loss
  4. Persistent Hunger
  5. Foot Pain and Numbness
  6. Fatigue
  7. Blurred Vision

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes, occurs when the body does not produce insulin.  Insulin is a hormone responsible for breaking down the sugar in the blood for use throughout the body.  People living with type 1 diabetes need to administer insulin with injections or an insulin pump.

There is no cure for type 1 diabetes.  Once a person receives their diagnosis, they will need to regularly monitor their blood sugar levels, administer insulin, and make some lifestyle changes to help manage the condition.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes, the most common type of diabetes, occurs when your cells don’t respond normally to insulin, which is known as insulin resistance. You can develop type 2 diabetes at any age but it occurs most often in middle-aged and older people and tends to appear gradually. In most cases, medication along with changes in exercise and diet can help manage type 2 diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is a condition in which a hormone made by the placenta prevents the body from using insulin effectively.  Unlike type 1 diabetes, gestational diabetes is not caused by a lack of insulin, but by other hormones produced during pregnancy that can make insulin less effective.  Gestational diabetic symptoms disappear following delivery but gestational diabetes increases your risk for type 2 diabetes later in life.

Outlook

There is good news for those living with diabetes – and those at risk. Experts are learning more all the time about lifestyle steps for diabetes control and prevention.  New medications and devices can also help you control your blood sugar and prevent complications. For more information on diabetes and how to make good choices, visit the American Diabetes Association website.

Diabetes Education and Prevention

Diabetes Education and Prevention

by | Nov 5, 2019 | Health & Wellness

Diabetes is a long-lasting health condition that affects how your body converts food to energy. Diabetes patients are unable to make enough of the hormone called insulin or cannot use the insulin that is made in their body efficiently.  When this happens, your body can respond in some serious ways that include liver damage, heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.
There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body just stops making insulin. These patients are usually diagnosed as children, teens, or early adults. Type 2 diabetes is a result of your body not using the insulin produced in an efficient manner. About 90% of all diabetic patients are type 2 cases. But, through education and prevention, the effects of diabetes on a person’s body can be lessened.
How is food converted to energy?
When you eat food, most of it is converted to sugar (glucose) and released into your bloodstream to provide you with the energy you need to do daily tasks. When your blood sugar levels increase, your pancreas is then activated to release insulin into your body’s cells and use it for energy. Insulin not only helps convert glucose to energy, but it also helps our body store glucose for future energy use.
Diabetes = Broken Process
In some people, the conversion process is interrupted and the message to the pancreas to release insulin into the cells to use for energy is done ineffectively. These patients have trouble balancing the correct amount of insulin in their cells and so therefore have a harder time maintaining energy levels. Diabetic patients try to get rid of extra sugar (blood sugar level of 180 +) through the kidneys and therefore have the need to urinate more often. When releasing large amounts of sugar through urine, it means that there is less available to convert to energy and leads to lethargy, loss of appetite, and excess burning of body fat.
Education & Prevention is Key
For people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, understanding how your body processes sugar and maintains healthy blood sugar levels is paramount. Those with type 1 diabetes require daily insulin shots to keep blood sugar levels even. These patients are unable to reverse this autoimmune disease and solely rely on insulin shots to level out glucose levels. Those with type 2 diabetes can control the progression of this disease by making healthy diet choices and exercising regularly. In some cases, type 2 diabetics also have to include insulin shots or diabetes pills.
November is National Diabetes Month and is a great opportunity to adopt healthy lifestyle habits. Maintaining blood sugar levels through diet and exercise as well as becoming aware of the effects of the eating choices you make is key to understanding this disease. For more information on diabetes and how to make good choices, visit the American Diabetes Association website.