By: Diana Barnes-Brown for Wounds1Diabetes is a disease that affects an estimated 18.2 million people in the United States, or 6.3 percent of the population. About 13 million of these people have been diagnosed and 5.2 have not. Every year, roughly 1.3 million people over 20 years of age are diagnosed with the condition.
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Learn the risk factors of Type 2 Diabetes. Are you:
Over age 45
Overweight
Have a parent, brother or sister with diabetes
Family background is African American, American Indian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic American/Latino
You have had gestational diabetes, or gave birth to at least one baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
Your blood pressure is 140/90 or higher, or you have been told that I have high blood pressure.
Your cholesterol levels are not normal. Your HDL cholesterol ("good" cholesterol) is 35 or lower, or my triglyceride level is 250 or higher.
You are fairly inactive – exercise fewer than three times a week.
For more diabetes information, visit
The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse |
Diabetes affects people of all ages and races, but it is more common in people of Latin American or American Indian/Native American heritage and in people over 60. In the United States in 2002, nearly 20 percent of people over the age of 60, and roughly 10 percent of those between 40 and 59, had diabetes. With numbers like these, it is becoming necessary for ordinary people to educate themselves about the condition and how to prevent it.
Diabetes is characterized as a metabolic disorder, which means that it involves the way the body uses food to create the energy needed for life and growth. When food is eaten, the body breaks it down into a simple sugar called glucose, which is used as “fuel” for the body.
The digestive process allows glucose to be released into the bloodstream, where cells can absorb it and use it for energy and growth. But a hormone called insulin must be present to help the glucose be absorbed by the cells.
In normal, diabetes-free bodies, the pancreas produces just the right amount of insulin to deal with the glucose in the blood, and cells get “fed” what they need. But in people with diabetes, the pancreas produces little or no insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream and eventually the body flushes all the unused sugar out of the body in urine. Without their fuel source, cells, and the body they form, cannot function properly, leading to illness and, in some cases, even death.
There are three types of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, which means it results from the immune system attacking the body in some way. In the case of Type 1 diabetes, the immune system targets and destroys pancreatic cells that create insulin, diminishing the pancreas’ ability to produce insulin. People with Type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily in order to live with the condition. It is not known exactly what causes this type of diabetes, though genetic, environmental, or viral factors may be to blame.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, responsible for 90 to 95 percent of cases. It is associated with risk factors such as age, obesity, family history, physical inactivity and race/ethnicity. Weight appears to be one of the most prominent risk factors, as about 80 percent of people who have Type 2 diabetes are overweight.
Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy, and is more common in women who qualify for one or more of the risk factors of Type 2 diabetes. Also, women who have gestational diabetes during pregnancy have a 20 to 50 percent chance of developing Type 2 diabetes in the five to 10 years following pregnancy.
The symptoms of the different types of diabetes can overlap, although there are some differences.
Type 1 diabetes symptoms usually develop rapidly in childhood or early adulthood, although some are diagnosed later. Symptoms may include fatigue, nausea, weight loss, frequent urination, constant thirst and vision problems. If not treated with insulin, people with Type 1 diabetes can fall victim to diabetic ketoacidosis, which causes them to fall into a life-threatening coma.
People with Type 2 diabetes suffer from many of the same symptoms, but they are not as severe or sudden in their onset. Type 2 diabetes sufferers may also have increased susceptibility to infection and wounds or sores that are slow to heal. People with Type 2 diabetes can often manage the condition with dietary modifications and frequent check-ups.
In the long term, diabetes can lead to nerve damage, loss of vision, serious sores and infections, heart and kidney damage, and problems with the teeth and gums, especially if not diagnosed early and treated properly. Diabetes can be diagnosed with blood work and discussion of symptoms.
Many doctors believe that without serious steps to manage the occurrence of the condition, the combination of rising numbers of overweight and sedentary people in the United States, as well as the increasing elderly population, will lead to an epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. The medical community has voiced numerous concerns about preventing the condition from becoming more common than it already is. Current estimates suggest that diabetes could affect nearly 10 percent of the population by the year 2025.
Since diet, sedentary lifestyles, and obesity – all factors that patients can control – are factors for Type 2 diabetes, most doctors argue that the key to treating this type of diabetes is to prevent its onset with lifestyle modifications.
