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Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 Diabetes is considered the Adult onset form of diabetes. With this type of diabetes, your body resists the effects of insulin or doesn’t produce enough insulin. Insulin has an important function in your body. Normally, insulin helps to move sugar or glucose out of your bloodstream and into your cells so that the sugar can help to produce energy. In Type 2 Diabetes, this normal process is interrupted and this causes the sugar in your blood stream to build up. There is no cure for Type 2 Diabetes. However, it is a condition that can be managed and even prevented.
What are some of the common symptoms of diabetes? Fatigue, weight loss, blurred vision, increased hunger, increased thirst, increased urination, frequent infections or slow healing sores and darkened skin fold areas.
What are some of the common risk factors for diabetes? Inactivity, being overweight (especially with an enlarged abdomen), family history of diabetes, race (diabetes is more common among Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and Asian Americans) and age over 45 years, though Type 2 Diabetes is increasing among younger adults, children and adolescents. If you experienced diabetes during a pregnancy, this also increases your risk of developing diabetes later in life.
A common blood test used to diagnose diabetes is the A1C test or Hemoglobin A1C. The test shows what your blood sugar average has been covering the last two to three months. If you have two or more of the risk factors or symptoms mentioned above, you should make an appointment to see your doctor to be tested. Ideally, your medical provider would like for your A1C level to be at or below 6%. If you have developed diabetes, your primary care provider can begin to treat you and educate you on how to manage the disease.
Why is it important to treat diabetes and not ignore it? The long-term effects of diabetes include increase risks of vascular problems, high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. It also includes nerve damage over a course of time that causes numbness, tingling and sometimes burning pain at the tips of your fingers and toes. In addition, in men, unmanaged diabetes can lead to erectile dysfunction. When diabetes is not kept under control, it can ultimately cause kidney damage, blindness, foot infections serious enough to require amputation and increase your risk for developing Osteoporosis.
You can also contact your local Park Forest Health Department for a random blood sugar test or for dietary counseling at (708) 748-1118 from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Jenise Ervin RN, MSN, Director of Public Health
Nurses Plus/ Park Forest Health Department