EDUCATING
HELP IS HERE
Whether you're newly diagnosed, have had type 1 or type 2 diabetes for a while, or you're helping a loved one, you’ve come to the right place. This is the way to start learning how you can live a healthier life—with the tools, health tips, and food ideas you need. Wherever you are with diabetes, you can still live your best life—and we have the steps you can take to get there. All you have to do is take action and stick with it.
WARNING SIGNS
The following symptoms of diabetes are typical. However, some people with diabetes have mild symptoms that go unnoticed.
- Urinating often
- Feeling very thirsty
- Feeling very hungry—even though you are eating
- Extreme fatigue
- Blurry vision
- Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
- Weight loss—even though you are eating more (type 1)
- Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)
Early detection and treatment of diabetes can decrease the risk of developing the complications of diabetes.
WHAT IS TYPE 1 DIABETES?
When you have type 1 diabetes, your immune system mistakenly treats the beta cells in your pancreas that create insulin as foreign invaders and destroys them. When enough beta cells are destroyed, your pancreas can’t make insulin or makes so little of it that you need to take insulin to live.
Insulin is a hormone that helps blood glucose (blood sugar) enter your body’s cells so that it can be used as energy. If you have diabetes, blood glucose can’t enter your cells so it builds up in your bloodstream. This causes high blood glucose (hyperglycemia). Over time, high blood glucose harms your body and can lead to diabetes-related complications if not treated.
Most of the time, type 1 diabetes is diagnosed in young people, but it can develop in anyone at any age. Scientists and researchers today aren’t sure how to prevent type 1 diabetes or what triggers it.
If you have type 1 diabetes, you can live a long, healthy life by having a strong support system and managing it with your diabetes care team. The treatment plan you develop with your diabetes care team will include insulin, physical activity, and an eating plan to reach your health goals.
WHAT IS TYPE 2 DIABETES?
In type 2 diabetes, your body does not use insulin properly—this is called insulin resistance. At first, your beta cells make extra insulin to make up for it. Over time, your pancreas can’t make enough insulin to keep your blood glucose at normal levels. Type 2 diabetes develops most often in middle-aged and older adults but is increasing in young people.
Treatment for people with type 2 diabetes will include healthy eating and exercise. However, your health care provider may need to also prescribe oral and injectable medications (including insulin) to help you meet your target blood glucose levels.