What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic health problem in which your blood sugar, or glucose, level is constantly high. Your pancreas produces insulin, which is responsible for absorbing glucose into your cells for fuel. Diabetes occurs when your body doesn’t produce enough insulin or insulin function is impaired.
There are four main types of diabetes, which are categorized by the cause and severity of the disease.
Prediabetes
Prediabetes is also called insulin resistance. It occurs before diabetes and may be reversed with lifestyle changes.
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 is most commonly diagnosed in children. It develops when the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 affects more than 30.3 million Americans and occurs when insulin function is impaired.
Gestational diabetes (GD)
GD occurs in some women during pregnancy and must be treated to prevent complications for mother and baby.
What are the risk factors for diabetes?
Diabetes has many modifiable risk factors. These are behaviors that you can change in order to prevent or slow the progression of diabetes. The most common, modifiable diabetes risk factors are:
- Excess weight
- Poor diet
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Smoking
Some diabetes risk factors are not modifiable, like age, race, and gender. These factors may predispose you to diabetes, but living a healthy lifestyle can decrease your risk overall.
How do you diagnose diabetes?
Dr. Nguyen diagnoses diabetes based on your symptoms and blood sugar testing. Common symptoms of diabetes include:
- Frequent urination
- Excessive thirst and hunger
- Fatigue
- Blurry vision
- Slow-healing cuts and bruises
- Tingling or discomfort in your hands or feet
Comprehensive blood sugar testing is needed to check your blood glucose levels in different ways — after fasting, after eating, and over a period of months. High glucose levels on these tests indicate diabetes.
How do you treat diabetes?
Successful diabetes treatment and management is unique to every person. Dr. Nguyen works with you to develop lifestyle modifications and a medication protocol to lower your blood sugar and improve your overall health.
In addition to lifestyle changes like weight loss, quitting smoking, or increasing your exercise, Dr. Nguyen may recommend blood sugar-lowering medications like prescription insulin. Diabetes management is an ongoing process, and you must work with Dr. Nguyen to protect your health and avoid long-term complications.
Diabetes treatment doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Get comprehensive solutions at Thuy T. Nguyen, M.D., Inc. by calling or scheduling an appointment online today.
