What is Diabetes?
- Diabetes is a disease that changes the way your body uses sugar. The food you eat turns to sugar. The sugar then travels through the blood to all parts of the body. Usually, insulin helps get sugar from the blood to the body's cells, where it is used for energy.
- When you have diabetes, your body has trouble making and/or using insulin. So your body does not get the fuel it needs. And your blood sugar stays too high.
Prevalence
- Nearly 26 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes.
- Another 79 million Americans have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
- Recent estimates project that as many as 1 in 3 American adults will have diabetes in 2050 unless we take steps to Stop Diabetes.
The Toll on Health
- Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.
- Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure. Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults.
- The rate of amputation for people with diabetes is 10 times higher than for people without diabetes.
- About 60-70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nerve damage that could result in pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion, sexual dysfunction and other nerve problems.
- Type 1 -- The body does not make any insulin. people with type 1 must take insulin everyday to stay alive.
- Type 2 -- The body does not make enough insulin, or use insulin well. Most people with diabetes have Type 2.
What are the warning signs?
- Going to the bathroom a lot
- Feeling hungry or thirsty all the time
- Blurred vision
- Losing weight without trying
- Cuts or bruises that are slow to heal
- Feeling tired all the time
- Hands and feet that tingle or feet numb
- Most people with diabetes do not notice any signs
Source: http://www.diabetes.org
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