Find Out If You Are At Risk For Diabetes
SPRINGFIELD — A new report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention tells the story of how diabetes rates in the United States have skyrocketed in 20 years, with the prevalence nearly doubling in the last two decades.
Diabetes is a serious chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce insulin, or when the body cannot effectively use insulin. Insulin helps to regulate blood sugar levels.
Over time, diabetes can seriously damage organs in the body, especially the nerves and blood vessels. If uncontrolled and unmanaged, the progression of diabetes can have rapid and devastating complications and lead to possible premature death.
“Even more disturbing is that the American Diabetes Association estimates that over eight million diabetics don’t even know they have the condition,” said Dr. Pam Duitsman, nutrition and health specialist, University of Missouri Extension.
The good news is that diabetes can be controlled, and prevented, by changing what we eat, increasing physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and smoking cessation.
Types Of Diabetes
There are four basics types of diabetes according to Duitsman, prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, and Type 1 diabetes.
Prediabetes is when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetes. CDC reports that 86 million Americans now have prediabetes and of those 86 million, nine out of 10 don’t know they have it. Prediabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes. But, prediabetes can be reversed. This is why screening is very important.
People are at higher risk for Type 2 diabetes if you are overweight, have a family history of diabetes, are not physically active, or are a woman who had gestational diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can lead to serious health issues and accounts for 90-95 percent of all diabetes in the United States, but about one-third are unaware that they have this serious illness.
Some women get this type of gestational diabetes when they are pregnant. Even if a woman’s blood sugar levels go down after her baby is born, she is at higher risk of getting Type 2 diabetes later in life.
In people with Type 1 diabetes, the body cannot make insulin, so insulin must be taken every day. Type 1 is less common. Only about 5 percent of the people who have diabetes have Type 1. Currently, no one knows how to prevent Type 1 diabetes.
Screening Guidelines
The 2016 American Diabetes Association has guidelines for screenings, which are medical tests to check for diseases before you have symptoms.
“Tests for diabetes should begin at age 45 in people that do not have any risk factors. If results are normal, the screening should be repeated at least every three years,” said Duitsman.
Screening should begin at any age for those with one or more of the following risk factors: overweight, physical inactivity, family history, high-risk ethnicity, gestational diabetes, high triglyceride levels, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, a history of cardiovascular disease.