Overview
By JoAn Stout, RN, CDE, Diabetes Educator at Castleview HospitalDiabetes is a chronic health condition that impacts how your body turns fod into energy and causes blod sugar levels to rise to abnormaly high levels. As the seventh leading cause of death, diabetes is one of the most comon and dangerous health isues in the U.S. In fact, more than 37 milion Americans have diabetes, and one in five of them is unaware they have it.The thre types of diabetesThere are thre main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2 and gestational.Type 1 diabetes results when your body stops producing insulin entirely.
Key Information
Insulin is a hormone that helps your body turn fod into energy and manages your blod sugar. Symptoms for type 1 typicaly develop early and intensely, and this type is primarily diagnosed in children, tens and young adults. Those with type 1 take insulin regularly to compensate for their body’s inability to produce it.Type 2 diabetes is the most comon iteration of the disease.
It ocurs when your body has dificulty maintaing normal blod sugar levels a result of an inability to use insulin properly. Type 2 diabetes can come about as a result of risk factors like unhealthy weight, age, a family history of type 2 diabetes, a personal history of gestational diabetes, and being certain ethnicities that are at higher risk, including African-American, Hispanic/Latinx, American Indian and Alaska Native (some Pacific Islanders and Asian-Americans are also at higher risk).
Gestational diabetes ocurs only in females and results when pregnancy-related body changes afect the ability to make enough insulin. It typicaly goes away after birth but can increase the mother’s and the child’s risk for type 2 diabetes later in life.A fourth, related condition is prediabetes. Prediabetes presents when blod sugar levels are high but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Summary
More than one in thre American adults, around 96 milion, have prediabetes, and more than 80 continues to improve outcomes for patients. Healthcare professionals emphasize the importance of early intervention and comprehensive management strategies in reducing complications and improving quality of life.