Diabetes Awareness Month

Diabetes is a condition that impacts how the body converts the food into energy. And this disease occurs when blood glucose or blood sugar levels get too high. So with diabetes, the body either doesn't make enough of the hormone insulin, or it's just not able to utilize insulin as well as it should.

When our cells stop responding to the insulin, there is actually excessive blood sugar that stays in the bloodstream. So there's just more sugar circulating in the blood than the body can respond to, and this is what causes problems. Over time, the unmanaged blood sugar can cause heart disease, vision loss, kidney disease, and a host of other health complications. So managing blood sugar is really critical for everyone.

Prediabetes is a health condition that occurs when our blood glucose or blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not quite high enough to warrant a diabetes diagnosis yet. 

In the US, 84 million adults or more than 1 in 3 people have prediabetes, according to statistic from the CDC. I found it astounding to read that 90% of those people who have that prediabetes don't even realize that they have it.

Prediabetes is basically a precursor for type 2. So if they are in a prediabetic state, that's a risk for that, in addition to heart disease and to stroke.

In diabetes and prediabetes, the cells in the body are not responding normally to insulin. So the pancreas gets a signal that more insulin must be needed because the body is not responding, and that's really an attempt to try to get those cells to respond and let that sugar into the cells. And this is known as insulin resistance.

So an individual can have prediabetes for years with no clear symptoms. These are some of the common symptoms of somebody that is either diabetic or moving that direction-- so urinating frequently often at night, feeling very thirsty or very hungry-- or people may describe it as this like there's nothing I can do to satisfy this hunger. That's a signal that their cells aren't getting the energy that they need- - blurry vision, numb or tingling hands or feet, fatigue, very dry skin, and wounds that just don't seem to heal or just an increase in illnesses like getting colds and viruses. That's another indicator that their immunity is being affected.

So risk factors for prediabetes or diabetes include prediabetes, the precursor, also insulin resistance sometimes. A person may go to a physician, and they might not use the word prediabetes. They may say insulin-resistant. Your insulin resistance are showing, signs of insulin resistance. So this is still a risk factor for a full-blown diabetes diagnosis in the future.

Also race and ethnicity is also a factor African-Americans or Hispanic, Latino Americans, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian-Americans are at higher risk than other ethnicities.

Diabetes hits women hard, especially at midlife. In the United States, it’s the number 6 killer of women ages 45 to 54 and the number 4 killer of women ages 55 to 64. What’s more, diabetes increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, and many other serious conditions, including blindness, kidney disease, and nerve disease.

Diabetes prevention is close to my heart because my mother had type 1 diabetes where she was insulin dependent because her pancreas was not producing any insulin. I watched what she had to go through with needles and watching what she ate and how it affected her life.

Last year, I was certified with the CDC as a diabetes prevention lifestyle coach with the Diabetes Prevention Program because of what my mother went through. It is a one year program for people who have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, had gestational diabetes when pregnant, or as a result of a Pre-Diabetes Risk Test which measures if you are at risk for pre-diabetes. The purpose of this 1 year program is to prevent Type 2 (T2) diabetes from even occurring through a healthy lifestyle. This program is not for anyone who has already been diagnosed with diabetes.

My next Diabetes Prevention Program starts on January 8th. If you have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, gestational diabetes while pregnant or after taking the survey mentioned above, it shows you are at risk for pre-diabetes this program is one you should consider. If you are ready, you can register here.