What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the pancreas does not release insulin properly; insulin is the body’s key to open your cells and allow glucose to enter. You need glucose for energy.
- Type 1 – the body is unable to make insulin, which causes high blood sugar.
- Type 2 – the body is unable to make enough and it’s not effective enough to move the glucose out of the blood – causing high blood sugar.
Diabetes can cause many other health problems, including heart, lung, kidney, eye, dental, nerve, and foot problems. This can lead to heart attacks, strokes, dementia, shortness of breath, dialysis, blindness, infections, painful extremities, and amputations.
What are symptoms of diabetes?
- Urinating often
- Feeling very thirsty
- Feeling hungry – even though you are eating
- Extreme fatigue
- Blurry vision
- Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
- Weight loss – even though you are eating more – more frequently Type 1
- Tingling, pain or numbness in the hands/feet
