What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which the body is unable to produce or unable to properly use and store glucose
There are two major types of diabetes.
Type 1 (also called juvenile-onset or insulin-dependent) diabetes, the body completely stops producing any insulin, a hormone that enables the body to use glucose found in foods for energy. People with type 1 diabetes must take daily insulin injections to survive. This form of diabetes usually develops in children or young adults, but can occur at any age.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease marked by high levels of sugar in the blood. It begins when the body does not respond correctly to insulin, a hormone released by the pancreas. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes.
How do people know if they have diabetes?
Certain symptoms include:
•being very thirsty
•frequent urination
•weight loss
•increased hunger
•blurry vision
•irritability
•tingling or numbness in the hands or feet
•frequent skin, bladder or gum infections
•wounds that don't heal
•extreme unexplained fatigue
In some cases, there are no symptoms — this happens at times with type 2 diabetes. In this case, people can live for months, even years without knowing they have the disease. This form of diabetes comes on so gradually that symptoms may not even be recognized.
People who have close relatives with the disease are somewhat more likely to develop it.
•Other risk factors include:
•Obesity
•High cholesterol
•High blood pressure
•Lack of physical inactivity.
•The risk of developing diabetes also increases as people grow older.
•People who are over 40 and overweight are more likely to develop diabetes, although the incidence of type 2 diabetes in
adolescents is growing.
•Diabetes is more common among Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans/Pacific
Islanders.
There are also various things that everyone who has diabetes needs to do in order to maintain a healthier lifestyle
This includes:
•Maintaining a healthy diet.
•Partaking in at least a half an hour of physical activity everyday.
•Monitoring blood glucose. Daily testing, will help determine how well their meal plan, activity plan, and medication are working to keep blood glucose levels in a normal range.
•Everyone who has diabetes should be seen at least once every six months by a diabetes specialist (an endocrinologist). He or she should also be seen periodically by other members of a diabetes treatment team, including a diabetes nurse educator, and a dietitian who will help develop a meal plan for the individual.
