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Who
has Diabetes?
1 An estimated 16 million Americans have diabetes, and about one-third of them are unaware of it. About 1,700 new cases are diagnosed every day in the United States. The seventh leading cause of death among Americans, diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness, kidney failure, and lower extremity amputations, and it greatly increases a person's risk for heart attack or stroke. There are four types of Diabetes 2 Type 1 diabetes mellitus requires the injection of insulin throughout life, daily monitoring of blood sugar (glucose) levels, and adjustments in diet and other aspects of daily living. As a result, insulin therapy must be rigorously managed. About half of patients with Type 1 diabetes develop the disease before age 18. At least one in every 300 children in the United States develops this disease. Type 2 diabetes, previously called non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes, may account for about 90 to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas makes some insulin, but it is not enough and/or the body's cells do not use it correctly because of insulin resistance. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, prior history of gestational diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, physical inactivity, and race/ethnicity. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can cause many complications, including blindness, vascular disease, kidney failure and peripheral vascular disease, which can decrease circulation and sometimes require the amputation of limbs. In addition, a person with diabetes can experience life-threatening reactions to low blood sugar as well as extremely high glucose. Gestational Diabetes Between 2 and 5 percent of pregnant women in the United States develop gestational diabetes. Obesity is also associated with higher risk. Women who have had gestational diabetes are at increased risk for later developing type 2 diabetes. In some studies, nearly 40 percent of women with a history of gestational diabetes developed diabetes in the future. 'Other Specific Types' of Diabetes result from specific genetic syndromes, surgery, drugs, malnutrition, infections, and other illnesses. Such types of diabetes may account for 1 to 2 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. 1 United States Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/fact/diabetes.htm http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/reportcard.htm
How
do you know if you have Diabetes
1 National Institutes of Health, National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse; NIH Publication 'Your Guide to Diabetes' No. 04-3016, November 2003 http://ndep.nih.gov/diabetes/WhatIs/WhatIs.htm 1
There
are three ways to diagnose diabetes and each must be confirmed on
a subsequent day: Casual is defined as any time of day without regard to time since last meal. The classic symptoms˛ of diabetes include increased urination, increased thirst, and unexplained weight loss.
National Institutes of Health, National Diabetes
Information Clearinghouse; NIH Publication 'Your Guide to Diabetes'
No. 04-3016, November 2003 http://ndep.nih.gov/diabetes/WhatIs/WhatIs.htm
Major
Risk
Factors for Diabetes
1
1 National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, National Diabetics Information Clearinghouse http://www.healthfinder.gov/scripts/recordpass.asp?RecordType=0&RecordID=4658 |
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