Diabetes
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What is diabetes?
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What causes diabetes?
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What are the symptoms of
diabetes?
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What are the complications of
diabetes?
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How can doctors tell if I have
diabetes?
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How do doctors treat diabetes?
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which your blood
sugar (glucose) levels are too high.
You get diabetes if your body's normal way
of controlling blood sugar isn't working right.
There are 2 types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2
People with type 1 diabetes have to take
insulin (type 1 is sometimes called insulin-dependent diabetes)
Some people with type 2 diabetes have to
take insulin, but many can just take pills and change their diet
Both types of diabetes can cause serious
long-term problems, like heart attacks and strokes
There is no cure for diabetes, but you can
manage it by taking insulin or other medicine and changing what you eat
What is blood sugar?
Blood sugar is:
Your body’s main source of energy
Blood sugar isn't just from sugar that's in
your drinks or that you put on food. Blood sugar comes from all sorts of food,
like:
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Bread
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Fruit
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Pasta
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Potatoes
These and many other foods contain
carbohydrates. Your body turns carbohydrates into blood sugar.
How does my body control blood sugar?
Your body controls how much sugar gets from
your blood into your body’s cells by using:
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone your body makes in the
pancreas. The pancreas is an organ in your belly behind your stomach.
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The Pancreas and Diabetes
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The Pancreas and Diabetes
After you eat, your body absorbs food and
your blood sugar increases. Your pancreas senses the higher blood sugar and
starts putting out insulin. The insulin tells your body's cells to take in
sugar from the blood. When the blood sugar is at the right level, your pancreas
stops putting out insulin.
What causes diabetes?
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Diabetes Mellitus
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Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes involves a problem with insulin.
There are 2 main types of diabetes:
In type 1 diabetes, your pancreas doesn't
make insulin because the cells that make it were destroyed
In type 2 diabetes, your pancreas makes
plenty of insulin but your body’s cells don’t respond to the insulin the way
they should
Eating sugary foods doesn't give you
diabetes. However, eating so much that you get very overweight can give you
type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes usually develops before age
30, typically in children and adolescents.
Type 2 diabetes can develop at any age but
is more common in people who:
Are overweight or obese
Are age 30 or older
Have certain racial or ethnic backgrounds
(in the United States: people who are Black, Asian, American Indian, or
Hispanic get diabetes at a higher rate than other people)
Have family members who have type 2
diabetes
Some women get type 2 diabetes during
pregnancy. This is called gestational diabetes.
What are the symptoms of diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes symptoms often start
suddenly. You may:
Urinate (pee) a lot
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Be very thirsty and drink a lot
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Have belly pain (especially for
children)
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Eat more than you usually do
but still lose weight
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Have blurry vision
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Feel sleepy or sick to your
stomach
Sometimes a dangerous problem called
diabetic ketoacidosis happens. It starts suddenly and can be the first sign of
diabetes in children. If you have diabetic ketoacidosis, you may:
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Have breath that smells fruity
and like nail polish remover
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Breathe deeply and very fast
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Feel sick to your stomach and
throw up
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Feel weak and tired all over
Type 2 diabetes symptoms may start slowly.
You may not have symptoms for many years. When you do, you may notice you’re:
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Urinating more often and in
larger amounts
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Drinking a lot more water
These symptoms get worse over weeks or
months. You may also:
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Feel very weak and tired all
over
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Have blurry vision
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Get dehydrated (not have enough
water in your body)
What are the complications of diabetes?
If your blood sugar stays high for a long
time, it can cause many problems. Most of the problems happen because diabetes
causes blood vessels to clog up. Clogged blood vessels don't let enough blood
get to your organs. So, you may have:
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Heart attack
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Stroke
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Kidney failure
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Blindness
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Foot ulcers
How can doctors tell if I have diabetes?
Doctors will test your blood to check your:
Blood sugar levels
Usually doctors measure your blood sugar
level first thing in the morning before you've eaten anything. That is called a
fasting blood sugar. Doctors need to measure fasting blood sugar because the
rest of the day your blood sugar goes up and down depending on how much you
eat.
Fasting blood sugar levels:
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Less than 100 is normal
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100 to 125, you're at risk of
diabetes
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126 or higher, you have
diabetes
Another test doctors might do is:
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Hemoglobin A1C
Hemoglobin is a substance inside your red
blood cells. It carries oxygen in your blood. Sugar in your blood attaches to
hemoglobin and forms hemoglobin A1C.
The higher your blood sugar, the more
hemoglobin A1C there is
Because hemoglobin A1C lasts a long time,
the amount of it in your blood changes slowly. So your hemoglobin A1C level
tells your doctor about your blood sugar levels over the past 2 to 3 months.
People with a hemoglobin A1C level higher than 6.5% have diabetes.
How do doctors treat diabetes?
There is no cure for diabetes. The goal of
treatment is to keep blood sugar levels close to normal.
The better you control your blood sugar
levels, the less likely you are to have complications
Treatment of diabetes involves:
A proper diet
Exercise
Losing weight if you're overweight
Medicines
Checking your blood sugar regularly
If you have diabetes, learn as much about it as you can. Talk to a nurse trained in diabetes education. The nurse can help you understand what to eat, how active to be, how to check your blood sugar levels, and how to adjust your insulin (if needed).
What should I eat?
Your body can't respond to changes in your
blood sugar level, so it's important to:
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Eat meals and snacks at about
the same time each day
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Eat about the same amount each
day
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Limit carbohydrates (like
bread) and fatty foods at each meal
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Eat more vegetables and
carbohydrates that break down slowly, like those in fruits, whole grains, and
high-fiber foods
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Limit processed foods, like
candy, cookies, donuts, and pastries
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Avoid sugary drinks, including
soda, sweet iced tea, lemonade, fruit punch, and sports drinks
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Limit alcoholic drinks to 1 per
day if you’re female and 2 per day if you’re male
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How active should I be?
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You should try to exercise some
every day.
Working out can help you get to or stay at
a healthy weight and control your sugar levels
Talk to your doctor or nurse to figure out
how much you should work out and what kinds of activities are best for you
Because your blood sugar level goes down
when you exercise, you may need to eat a snack or give yourself less insulin
before a long workout
Should I lose weight?
If you have type 2 diabetes, it's very
important to try to lose weight if you're overweight.
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Losing weight will help control
your blood sugar
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Sometimes, if you lose enough
weight you may not need to take medicine.
If you have type 1 diabetes, losing weight
doesn't help with your blood sugar levels. But excess weight isn't healthy for
anyone.
Why should I check my own blood sugar?
You need to check your blood sugar level
because your blood sugar level changes all the time based on:
What you eat
How active you are
Your stress level
If you have an infection
Medicines you’re taking
The time of day
If your blood sugar levels change
significantly, you may need to change your diet or the medicine you take.
Your doctor will tell you when and how
often to check your blood sugar. If you have type 1 diabetes, you usually need
to check your blood sugar several times a day. If you have type 2 diabetes, you
can check it less often.
Most often you'll check your blood sugar
by:
Sticking your fingertip with a small, sharp
tool called a lancet to get a drop of blood
Putting the drop of blood on a small
plastic test strip
Putting the test strip in a small machine
that reads blood sugar levels
Write down your blood sugar levels each
time you check them so you can share the numbers with your doctor. Your doctor
will use the numbers to tell you whether to change your medicines or your diet.
If you don't check your blood sugar, it can get too high and no one will know.
Some people use a continuous glucose
monitoring device—this uses a small sensor placed under your skin that shows
the results of your blood sugar levels every few minutes on the screen of a
small belt device worn like a cell phone.
Doctors can also check the amount of
hemoglobin A1C in your blood every 3 to 6 months. This lets them see how well
your blood sugar levels have been controlled over time.
Do I need medicine?
If you have type 1 diabetes, you’ll need
insulin (shots or inhaler)—you can learn how to change the amount of insulin
based on checking your blood sugar levels
If you have type 2 diabetes, you’ll need to
take medicine by mouth, but you may also need insulin
Where can I get more information about
diabetes?
American Diabetes Association: Support
tools and direction regarding diabetes and its management
JDRF: Global organization funding type 1
diabetes research
National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Detailed information about diabetes and its
complications
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