Healthy Blood Sugar Myth

What is diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes used to be known as non-insulin dependent diabetes or adult onset diabetes. Those affected domake their own insulin, but it is either not in a sufficient amount to meet their needs or their body has becomeresistant to its effects. At the time of diagnosis, people with type 2 diabetes will frequently have both high glucoselevels and high insulin levels, but they may not have any symptoms. It generally occurs later in life, in those who are obese, sedentary, and over 45 years of age.

Factors associated with diabetes include:

• Obesity
• Lack of exercise
• Family history of diabetes
• Pre-diabetes
• Ethnicity: African-American, Hispanic-American, Native American, Asian-American, Pacific Islander
• Gestational diabetes during pregnancy or baby weighing more than 9 pounds
• High blood pressure
• High triglycerides, high cholesterol, low HDL

Gestational diabetes is a form of hyperglycemia seen in some pregnant women, usually late in their pregnancy.

The cause is unknown, but it is thought that some hormones from the placenta increase insulin resistance in themother, causing elevated blood glucose levels. Most women are screened for gestational diabetes between their24th and 28th week of pregnancy. If gestational diabetes is found and not addressed, the baby is likely to be largerthan normal, be born with low glucose levels, and be born prematurely. The hyperglycemia associated withgestational diabetes usually goes away after the baby’s birth, but both the women diagnosed with gestationaldiabetes and their babies are at an increased risk of eventually developing type 2 diabetes. A woman who hasgestational diabetes with one pregnancy will frequently experience it with subsequent pregnancies.

Pre-Diabetes is a term for impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance. It is characterized by glucoselevels that are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnostic of diabetes. Usually those who have pre diabetes do not have anysymptoms but, if nothing is done to lower their glucose levels, they are at an increased risk of developing diabeteswithin about 10 years. Experts are recommending that everyone who has any of the risk factors for type 2 diabetesbe tested for pre-diabetes.

Signs and Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of diabetes are related to high glucose levels (hyperglycemia), low glucose levels(hypoglycemia), and complications associated with diabetes. The complications can be related to lipid production,damage to blood vessels (vascular and microvascular), organ damage – for example, kidney (diabetic nephropathy),nerve (diabetic neuropathy), and eye (diabetic retinopathy) damage – and/or to the slower healing associated withdiabetes. Type 1 diabetics are often diagnosed with acute severe symptoms that require hospitalization. With prediabetes,early type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes, there usually are no symptoms.

Symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes with hyperglycemia:

• Increased thirst
• Increased urination
• Increased appetite (with type 1, weight loss is also seen)
• Fatigue
• Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain (especially in children)
• Blurred vision
• Slow-healing infections
• Numbness, tingling, and pain in the feet
• Erectile dysfunction in men
• Absence of menstruation in women
• Rapid breathing (acute)
• Decreased consciousness, coma (acute)

• Sweating
• Trembling, weakness
• Double vision
• Convulsions
• Coma