⚕️ American Diabetes Month

💉Diabetes is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the United States. It can cause blindness, nerve damage, kidney disease, and other health problems if it’s not controlled.

One in 10 Americans have diabetes — that’s more than 30 million people. And another 84 million adults in the United States are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The good news? People who are at high risk for type 2 diabetes can lower their risk by more than half if they make healthy changes. These changes include: eating healthy, getting more physical activity, and losing weight.

💉How can American Diabetes Month make a difference?

We can use this month to raise awareness about diabetes risk factors and encourage people to make healthy changes.

Here are just a few ideas:

• Encourage people to make small changes, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Talk to people in your community about getting regular checkups. They can get their blood pressure and cholesterol checked, and ask the doctor about their diabetes risk.
• Ask doctors and nurses to be leaders in their communities by speaking about the importance of healthy eating and physical activity. 
• Over 23 million people in the United States have diabetes, which is also known as diabetes mellitus. 
• This leaves many people seeking diabetes information to help them manage this disease. Many have been officially diagnosed, but many others live with diabetes and do not even know it. 
• They may have many diabetes symptoms, but do not realize what is causing these symptoms. There are two types of diabetes- type 1 and type 2. Of the 23 million Americans that have diabetes, over 90% have type 2. Type 2 diabetes is the type that people are not born with. They develop this type of diabetes because of their diet and other environmental factors. 
• Diabetes information is extremely important to help people get a proper diagnosis of this condition and start a diabetes treatment plan. Diabetes is a chronic disease which causes a body to have an inability to process blood sugar effectively. This causes consistently high blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes begins to develop when the body starts having a hard time responding to insulin; this is often called insulin resistance. Diabetes information can help save many lives.
• What are Diabetes Causes?
• One of type 2 diabetes causes is being overweight. Diabetes is especially prevalent in those who are obese. A person not getting enough exercise and physical activity is also a contributing diabetes cause. People who are not overweight can also develop type 2 diabetes, although it is more rare. A family history of diabetes is also one of the common diabetes causes. 
• Are There Diabetes Cures? 
• Unfortunately, diabetes is a condition that currently has no cure, and therefore treating symptoms is still the most productive way of addressing the disease. However, new stem cell research may one day provide a cure, at least for Type 1 diabetes. This form of the disease occurs when a person’s immune system begins to attack the cells responsible for regulating blood sugar, but according to one study, these cells can be easily replaced with those grown in a laboratory. While this process has only been tested on mice so far, if testing begins on humans, it may put science one step closer to a diabetes cure.
• What are Diabetes Symptoms?
• Diabetes symptoms are often overlooked by many. Diabetes symptoms often start coming on slowly, leading to a person getting used to the symptom and not realizing that it could be the result of developing diabetes. The first diabetes symptoms often experienced are weight loss, frequent thirst followed by frequent urination, increased hunger and headaches. Dry mouth is also a common first sign of diabetes. Once the diabetes progresses a bit, more advance diabetes symptoms include weight gain, cuts and sores that do not seem to heal, numbness of the feet and hands, impotency and frequent yeast infections among women. These diabetes symptoms should not be ignored, and an doctor should be seen as soon as possible to test for possible diabetes.
• What are Diabetes Treatment Options?
• The sooner diabetes treatment is obtained, the better the outcome for the patient often is. Thankfully, there are now many diabetes treatment options. There are many oral medications on the market today for diabetes treatment. These oral medications help to control the diabetic's blood sugar levels. These medications include Biguanides, Sulfonylureas, Thiazolidinediones, Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, Dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors and Meglitinides. More than one diabetes treatment medication is often prescribed to a patient. Many of these medications compliment each other and work best when paired with other medications.
• Another common diabetes treatment is inject-able insulin. There are long-acting and short-acting forms of insulin. Which one is prescribed to a patient depends on the patient's specific needs. Long-acting insulin is typically administered once a day, while short-acting insulin is commonly administered before or after each meal.
• Diabetes treatment often also consists of the diabeti altering their way of eating. The diabetic is taught by their physician which foods to eat and not to eat. A low carbohydrate or a controlled-carbohydrate diet is often regarded as the best diabetes treatment diet. These types of diets help to naturally control blood sugar levels. Exercise is often recommended as another natural diabetes treatment option. Since diabetes is often caused by being overweight, a loss in weight can help to improve or even eradicate diabetes symptoms.

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