Do you have prediabetes or diabetes? You are not alone!
Fast Facts
- 1 in 10 people have diabetes.
- 1 in 5 people don’t know they are living with uncontrolled diabetes.
- 1/3 of the US population is prediabetic - but 80% of those people don’t know they are.
- 90-95% of people who have diabetes have type 2.
- About 10% of all pregnant people get gestational diabetes.
Diabetes is a common condition that can be prevented or managed with exercise, food, and medications. This does not mean you have to start training for a marathon and drink only kale smoothies, though! Small steps can lead to big rewards.
Understanding diabetes can help you prevent or manage diabetes. In this section, you can:
- Learn about our new myA1C inCheck Diabetes Management Program,
- learn basic information about diabetes,
- take a quiz to see if you are at risk for diabetes, and
- find simple changes you can make to lower your risk of getting diabetes.
Nutrition Counseling & Education
Expert Pharmacy Guidance
Specialized Care Above and Beyond
Diabetes is a condition you can be born with or develop.
When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make or use insulin properly which causes blood sugar to get too high or too low.
Uncontrolled, diabetes can seriously damage the body. It can cause many serious health issues, including:
- Vision issues and blindness,
- Foot problems,
- Nerve damage,
- Cardiovascular disease,
- Kidney disease, and
- Stroke.
Though there are symptoms of diabetes, the symptoms can be mild or may seem like something else. It is really important to get regular check-ups and blood work to make sure you don't have prediabetes or diabetes. Some common symptoms of diabetes are:
- Urinating often
- Feeling very thirsty
- Feeling very hungry—even though you are eating
- Extreme fatigue
- Blurry vision
- Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
- Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet
Blood sugar is also called 'glucose'.
Many of the foods we eat are turned into blood sugar.
The sugar is then carried by our blood to our organs and cells. Our cells turn the sugar into energy to fuel our brain, heart, lungs, and muscles.
What affects our blood sugar?
Things that can make blood sugar rise include:
- A meal or snack with more food or more carbohydrates than usual
- Inactivity
- Side effects of medications
- Infection or other illness
- Changes in hormone levels, such as during menstrual periods
- Stress
Things that can make blood sugar fall include:
- A meal or snack with less food or fewer carbohydrates than usual
- Extra activity
- Side effects of other medications
- Missing a meal or snack
Insulin is a hormone that is secreted by our pancreas. The pancreas is a small organ behind our stomachs.
Insulin makes it possible for our blood sugar to be absorbed by our organs and cells.
Insulin is like a key that opens the door in our cells to let blood sugar in.
When insulin doesn't work properly, our blood sugar can't get through the door and into our cells. Then our blood sugar doesn't fuel our muscles and organs correctly.
A1c is a blood test that tells you and your provider your average blood sugar for the past 2 to 3 months.
This is an important test because it shows how well your blood sugar is being managed.
This test is also a good way to find out if you are prediabetic.
