Diabetes is a health condition that causes blood glucose (blood sugar) levels to rise higher than normal. Hyperglycemia is the term health care providers use to describe high blood glucose. When you eat, your body breaks food down into glucose and sends it to the blood. Insulin, a hormone made in your pancreas, helps move the glucose from your blood into your cells to be used as fuel for energy.
There are three main types of diabetes:
1. Type 1
2. Type 2
3. Gestational Diabetes.
In Type 1 Diabetes, the pancreas is not able to make insulin. In Type 2 Diabetes, the insulin made by the pancreas struggles to do the job it is supposed to do (also called insulin resistance). Gestational Diabetes is the type of diabetes you may develop when you are pregnant (usually temporary). If you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make enough insulin, can't use the insulin it does make very efficiently or both.
Risk factors for Type 2 Diabetes include the following:
1. Have a history of hyperglycemia, prediabetes, or gestational diabetes
2. Are aged 45 years or older
3. Are Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
4. Have a parent, grandparent or sibling with diabetes
5. Are overweight
6. Are not physically active
7. Have high blood pressure or take medication for high blood pressure
8. Have low HDL Cholesterol and/or high triglycerides
9. Have been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
Common signs and symptoms of diabetes are fatigue, thirst, and frequent urination. Other signs and symptoms may be not thinking clearly or being irritable, being hungry and/or blurry vision.
Visit diabetes.org/socrisktest to determine if you are at risk for Type 2 Diabetes. Screening for diabetes by a health care provider should begin at no later than age 35 for all people according to the American Diabetes Association 2023 Standards of Care. The A1c test is a blood test that is frequently used to diagnose diabetes. A normal A1c is less than 5.7%. Prediabetes is diagnosed with an A1c of 5.7% to 6.4%. Diabetes is diagnosed with an A1c of 6.5% or greater.
Submitted by the Diabetes Education and Outpatient Nutrition Center