What is Diabetes

Diabetes is a medical condition that keeps your body from processing food normally resulting in high blood sugar or glucose. There are three types of diabetes. In Type 1, your body can no longer make insulin. With Type 2 diabetes, your body may still make insulin but it doesn’t work effectively. Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy and usually goes away after the baby is born. 

There are four main things you can do to stay healthy with diabetes:
  1. Monitor your blood sugar
  2. Take your medication, if prescribed
  3. Eat healthy
  4. Exercise regularly

What are some of the complications of high blood sugar?
  • Heart Disease
  • Stroke
  • Kidney Disease
  • Blindness
  • Nerve Damage
  • Foot Infections and Amputations
  • Skin Infections and Complications
  • Gastroparesis
  • Depression
What are the warning signs of diabetes?
  • Going to the bathroom a lot
  • Extreme thirst
  • Very hungry
  • Unusual weight loss
  • Tired all the time
  • Irritability
  • Hard to heal infections
  • Blurry vision
  • Tingling or numbness in hands or feet

Who is at risk for Type 2 diabetes?
  • People over 45
  • Those with a family history of diabetes
  • Those who are overweight
  • Those who do not exercise regularly
  • Those with low HDL or high triglycerides
  • Members of certain ethnic groups such as African-American or Hispanic
  • Women who had gestational diabetes or babies that weighed 9 lbs or more at birth
  • Those with blood pressure over 140/90
  • Those with pre-diabetes

Pre-Diabetes

Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they usually have "pre-diabetes" or blood sugar levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. It is estimated that over 40% of Kentuckians age 40-74 have pre-diabetes and are at very high risk for developing the disease.