Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that causes blood glucose (sugar) levels to rise higher than normal (hyperglycemia). Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. If you have type 2 diabetes, your body does not use insulin properly (insulin resistance).
Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose (sugar) for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin or it can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood. Diabetes can cause heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, or loss of feet or legs.

CDC prediabetes 1 in 3 graphic

A person with prediabetes has a blood sugar level higher than normal, but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Without lifestyle changes, 15-30% of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 3-5 years.  They are also at an increased risk of heart disease, and stroke.  

Gestational Diabetes is a type of diabetes that develops or is first recognized during pregnancy.  It usually goes away after the baby is born. However, women who have had gestational diabetes are at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

 

Know Your Risk, Take the Test

Find out if you are at risk for Type 2 diabetes by taking a quick seven-question risk test.