Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. With Type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. With Type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood

Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes can also cause heart disease, stroke and even the need to remove a limb. Pregnant women can also get  a type of diabetes called gestational diabetes.

Symptoms of Type 2 diabetes may include fatigue, thirst, weight loss, blurred vision and frequent urination. Some people have no symptoms. A blood test can show if you have diabetes. Exercise, weight control and sticking to your meal plan can help control your diabetes. You should also monitor your glucose level and take medicine if prescribed.



Also called: Insulin-dependent diabetes, Juvenile diabetes

Diabetes means your blood glucose, or blood sugar, is too high. With Type 1 diabetes, your pancreas does not make insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps glucose get into your cells to give them energy. Without insulin, too much glucose stays in your blood. Over time, high blood glucose can lead to serious problems with your heart, eyes, kidneys, nerves, and gums and teeth.

Type 1 diabetes happens most often in children and young adults, but can appear at any age. Symptoms may include:

• Being very thirsty
• Urinating often
• Feeling very hungry or tired
• Losing weight without trying
• Having sores that heal slowly
• Having dry, itchy skin
• Losing the feeling in your feet or having tingling in your feet
• Having blurry eyesight

A blood test can show if you have this type of diabetes. If you do, you will need to take insulin for the rest of your life.



Also called: Gestational diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or sugar, levels are too high. When you are pregnant, too much glucose is not good for your baby. Out of every 100 pregnant women in the United States, between three and eight get gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes happens for the first time when a woman is pregnant and goes away after childbirth. However, it increases the risk of having diabetes later on in life.

If you already have diabetes before you get pregnant, you need to monitor and control your blood sugar levels, because either type of diabetes during pregnancy raises the risk of problems for the baby and the mother. To help reduce these risks, you should:

• follow your meal plan
• exercise
• test your blood sugar
• take your medicine

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