What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic health condition that causes your body to not make enough insulin, or not use the insulin it does produce properly. This leads to high blood sugar levels. Health complications that can arise from uncontrolled diabetes include:
- Nerve damage
- Heart disease
- Eye damage
- Feet problems
- Kidney damage
- Skin conditions
- Bone and joint disorders
- Depression
- Alzheimer’s disease
What are the different types of diabetes?
There are three main types of diabetes:
- Type 1 diabetes
- Type 2 diabetes
- Gestational diabetes
If you have Type 1 diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin (or none at all), which is a hormone your body needs to absorb and use nutrients from the foods you eat. People with Type 2 diabetes make insulin but aren’t able to use it properly.
Gestational diabetes occurs in pregnant women and may go away after delivery. However, having gestational diabetes increases your risk for developing Type 2 diabetes later in life.
What are the symptoms of diabetes?
Talk with Dr. Leach if you experience symptoms of Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, so she can test you for these diseases (or prediabetes, which can be reversed with healthy lifestyle choices). Common diabetes symptoms include:
- Extreme thirst or hunger
- Frequent urination
- Fatigue
- Unexplained weight loss
- Frequent infections or slow-healing sores
- Irritability
- Blurred vision
How is diabetes diagnosed and treated?
If you have symptoms of diabetes, Dr. Leach goes over your medical history and completes a blood test to diagnose diabetes. Treatment for diabetes varies based on the type of diabetes you have and may include taking oral medications, insulin injections, or both.
If you have prediabetes, a condition that causes high blood sugar but is not yet diabetes, making lifestyle changes helps reverse the path toward diabetes. Ways to lower diabetes risks include weight loss if you’re overweight, daily physical activity, a healthy diet, and good cholesterol and blood pressure control.
When you’re ready to talk with Dr. Leach about symptoms of diabetes or you need an experienced physician to manage your diabetes, call her office to schedule an appointment or book one online today.
