Home > Disease > Could you be diabetic?: American Diabetes Association offers tips, symptoms

Could you be diabetic?: American Diabetes Association offers tips, symptoms

August 31st, 2011 Leave a comment Go to comments

Diabetes, it’s something we hear about all the time. We hear how other people have it and how they alter their lifestyle to fit the disease. We feel bad for these people, naturally, but did you ever think it could be you? Out of the estimated 20.8 million people in the United States living with diabetes, the American Diabetes Association said 6.2 million are unaware that they have it. So what is diabetes?

Diabetes is basically a disease that occurs when your body doesn’t make enough insulin, or doesn’t properly use the insulin it creates. Insulin is a hormone that is formed in the pancreas; it converts sugar into energy the body needs.

Sometimes, the pancreas fails to produce insulin or the pancreas is destroyed, which cuts off the body’s supply of insulin.

This is called Type 1 diabetes; it affects about 5 to 10 percent of the diabetic population, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Type 2 diabetes is the body’s resistance to insulin. Ninety to 95 percent of the population is affected by Type 2, the American Diabetes Association has found.

These forms of diabetes can have serious complications, including loss of circulation, which could result in amputation of the legs or feet. Most deaths from diabetes occur from heart complications caused by obesity, hardening of the arteries and high blood pressure. Blindness is another complication. Diabetes causes high blood sugar levels.

These high levels can damage the blood vessels going to the retina, and also cause swelling of the retina, which results in blindness.

Another type of diabetes is gestational. Gestational diabetes only occurs in pregnant women. About 4 percent of pregnant women will be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. This can seriously harm the baby if not treated immediately. When the insulin is not controlling the glucose in your system, glucose can get to the baby. Glucose becomes stored as fat and can cause health problems for the mom and the baby, the Diabetes Association indicates.

So now that you know what it is, how can you know you have diabetes?

The American Diabetes Association lists the symptoms as: An unquenchable thirst Constant urination Blurred vision Extreme hunger Fatigue Rapid weight loss Don’t freak out if you are reading this and feel the need to go to the bathroom, but if you have these symptoms for an extended period of time, it may be time to visit the doctor.

Unfortunately, there is no magic pill that can take away this disease but there are things you can do to reduce the symptoms. A little dieting and exercise goes a long way.

“In fact,” said Jennifer Hogg, the diabetic coordinator for Hawfields Middle School, “Type 2 diabetes

can be completely eliminated by a lot of diet and exercise.” How’s that for a light at the end of the tunnel? There are also ways of controlling Type 1, including the insulin pump.

“The pump is just like a little pancreas on the outside of you body that injects insulin into your body every three minutes,” said Hogg. “There is also the newly offered pancreatic transplant. A woman in Alamance County has already undergone this procedure.” Type 1 is most common in kids, but the number of children with Type 2 is growing rapidly with the obesity epidemic sweeping our country.

So keep your eyes out and be prepared if this disease comes your way.

Incoming search :


www.fastbet99.org- master agen betting | agen judi bola no.1 di indonesiawww.fastbet99.org - master agen betting | agen judi bola no.1 di indonesia
Categories: Disease Tags:
  1. No comments yet.
  1. No trackbacks yet.