What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic condition where your blood glucose (or blood sugar) is too high. It can develop at any age when either your pancreas does not make enough insulin or your body can’t respond to the effects of insulin. There are three main types of diabetes:
- Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that causes your body to stop producing insulin. It can develop quickly without a clear cause and force you to take insulin every day for the rest of your life.
- Type 2 diabetes is the most common form, present in 90–95% of diabetics. Your body can’t use the insulin produced and properly control blood sugar.
- Gestational diabetes develops in pregnancy in women who didn’t previously have diabetes, but goes away after childbirth. It raises the blood glucose of the mother and puts the baby at risk of diabetes and other health problems.
How do you get diabetes?
For years, type 1 diabetes was called juvenile diabetes for its propensity to develop in childhood. But it can happen at any age, without a clear cause.
On the other hand, type 2 diabetes has a number of controllable risk factors:
- Chronically high blood sugar
- Lack of exercise or overall sedentary lifestyle
- Weight at unhealthy or obese levels
Being over 45, a family history of diabetes and a previous pregnancy where you either had gestational diabetes or carried a nine-plus-pound child also increase your risk of type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes shares similar causes, but starts in the child-bearing years, after 25.
What diabetes symptoms should I look for?
The symptoms caused by high blood sugar are consistent across all types of diabetes:
- Frequent urination, especially at night
- Bouts of thirst or hunger
- Blurred vision
- Fatigue
- Slow-healing sores or frequent infections
- Dry skin
- Tingly or numb hands and feet
- Unexplained weight loss
With type 2 diabetes, these symptoms can take years to develop, making it hard to identify changes in your body. They may also be mild or never come on at all.
In Type 1 diabetes, it all happens more suddenly — and severely. Your symptoms can hit in weeks or months. You may also experience digestive issues like nausea, vomiting or stomach pain.
How do you know for sure if you have diabetes?
The only way to know whether or not you have diabetes is through a blood test. There are a variety of blood tests for diabetes, but the A1C test is the most commonly used. It measures the hemoglobin in your bloodstream, which is what sugar attaches to when it gets inside your blood. The more sugar-coated hemoglobin you have, the higher your score.
The A1C test is different from other blood tests that measure your current glucose levels. It can indicate the average blood sugar over the past three months, making it much more reliable for measuring chronically high levels of blood glucose.
How can I manage my diabetes?
Ten percent of Iowans have diabetes. And another 34% have high blood sugar that hasn’t hit the level of diabetes yet. So it’s a very common condition that your Internal Medicine physician can help you manage — or prevent altogether.
Diet and exercise are important tools for keeping your blood glucose in check, whether you have diabetes or are at risk of getting it. Once diagnosed, there are three other things you may need to do to control your condition:
- Monitor your blood glucose levels regularly. Knowing your blood sugar helps you take quick action to get it under control. You’ll monitor your blood glucose daily — possibly multiple times a day.
- Inject yourself with insulin. Everyone with type 1 diabetes, and many with type 2, need regular doses of insulin to make up for the deficiencies inside your body.
- Take diabetes medication. In addition to insulin, there are oral medications that help manage blood glucose levels. These are more common for people with type 2 or gestational diabetes.
When should I talk to my doctor about diabetes?
If you’re experiencing symptoms, visit your Internal Medicine physician right away. They can assess your symptoms and get your blood work done to see if you have diabetes.
The CDC recommends a baseline A1C test for everyone over 45 — younger if you have associated risk factors. So if you’re at greater risk — whether it’s because of your weight, family history or any other factor — talk to your provider about it. They can help you assess your risk and help you make the lifestyle changes to prevent diabetes.