Diabetes is the most common disease of the endocrine system and occurs when blood glucose levels in the body are consistently higher than normal. There are 25 million people with diabetes in the United States alone.
Diabetes is a disease that results from the body’s inability to produce insulin (type 1 diabetes) or the body’s failure to respond to insulin action (type 2 diabetes). The disease can also occur during pregnancy. Insulin is one of the main hormones that regulates blood sugar levels and allows the body to use sugar (glucose) for energy. Talk to your doctor about the different types of diabetes and the risk of developing it.
Pre-diabetes
In the United States, 79 million people over the age of 20 have higher than normal blood sugar levels, but not enough to be diagnosed with diabetes, which is called prediabetes, or impaired glucose tolerance. Although people with prediabetes are usually asymptomatic, almost all people with type 2 diabetes experience prediabetes before they develop the disease. However, complications related to diabetes, such as heart disease, can occur even in people who are prediabetic.
Once type 2 diabetes develops, symptoms may occur, including abnormal thirst, frequent urination, blurred vision, or extreme fatigue, or no symptoms at all. Talk to your doctor about whether you need to be tested for prediabetes. Recognizing the signs of prediabetes before it starts may help prevent type 2 diabetes and reduce the risk of diabetes-related complications, such as heart disease.
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is caused when the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin (called beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. people with type 1 diabetes are unable to produce insulin and must take insulin injections to control their blood sugar levels.
Type 1 diabetes is most common in people under age 20, but can occur at other ages.
Type 2 diabetes
The body continues to produce insulin in people with type 2 diabetes, but over time, the body may produce significantly less insulin. people with type 2 diabetes face two conditions, where the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or where the body cannot recognize and use insulin correctly. When the body lacks enough insulin or fails to use it correctly, glucose cannot enter the body’s cells for energy and thereafter accumulates in the bloodstream.
More than 25 million Americans have diabetes, and the vast majority of these are people with type 2 diabetes. Although most type 2 diabetes is preventable, in adults, type 2 diabetes remains the leading cause of diabetes-related complications (blindness, nontraumatic amputations, and chronic kidney failure). type 2 diabetes usually occurs in people over 40 who are overweight, but it can also occur in people who are not overweight. The disease used to be called “adult-onset diabetes” but is now increasingly seen in children due to the increasing number of young obese people.
Some patients can manage type 2 diabetes by controlling their weight, watching their diet, and exercising regularly, while others may need to take diabetes medications and insulin injections that promote better use of insulin.
Usually, doctors can detect the risk of developing type 2 diabetes before the disease actually occurs, commonly known as prediabetes, which occurs when an individual has higher than normal blood glucose levels, but not enough to make a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes
Hormonal changes during pregnancy can affect the ability of insulin to work properly, a condition called gestational diabetes, which accounts for about 4% of all pregnancy complications.
Factors that increase the risk of gestational diabetes include being older than 25 years, having a pre-pregnancy weight above normal, having a family history of diabetes, and being Hispanic, African American, Native American, or Asian.
Pregnant women need to be screened for gestational diabetes. If left untreated, gestational diabetes increases the risk of complications for the mother and the unborn child.
Usually, blood glucose levels return to normal within 6 weeks after delivery. However, women who have had gestational diabetes are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.
What are the symptoms of diabetes?
What are the symptoms of diabetes?
Symptoms in people with type 1 diabetes are often sudden and severe. They include:
- Increased thirst;
- Increased hunger (especially after eating);
- dry mouth;
- Frequent urination;
- Unexplained weight loss (hunger even when you have eaten);
- Fatigue (feeling of weakness, tiredness);
- Blurred vision.
People with type 2 diabetes may have the same symptoms as above. In most cases, they may also be asymptomatic or develop these symptoms gradually. Other symptoms may include:
- slow wound healing;
- Itching of the skin (usually in the perineum or groin area);
- yeast infection;
- Recent weight gain;
- Numbness or tingling in the hands and feet;
- impotence or erectile dysfunction.
- Patients with gestational diabetes often have no self-reported symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they may include:
- Increased thirst;
- Increased urination;
- Increased hunger;
- Blurred vision.
It is important to note that pregnancy also causes most women to urinate frequently and to be more likely to be hungry. Therefore, these symptoms are not necessarily indicative of gestational diabetes. Therefore, it is important to get tested, as high blood sugar can cause health problems for both the mother and the fetus.
How do you treat diabetes?
There is no cure for diabetes.
Diabetes cannot be cured, but it can be treated and managed. The goals of diabetes management include the following:
- To keep blood glucose as close to target as possible by balancing food intake, applying diabetes medications, and moving the body.
- Maintain blood cholesterol and triglyceride (lipid) levels as close to normal as possible by following a healthy eating plan, consuming low-processed foods with low added sugar and saturated fat, or receiving medications.
- Control your blood pressure, which should be a target of 130/80 mmHg or less.
Patients themselves are the key to controlling their diabetes. Please work with your doctor to develop a diabetes treatment plan.
Prepare a meal plan and follow a balanced meal plan.
Remember: Your doctor can only intervene every few months during follow-up exams, and patients should do what they can at home every day to stabilize their blood glucose levels.