Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy.
The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach,makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood.
Remember this:
Type I Diabetes (insulin dependent)
Type II Diabetes (non-insulin dependent)
Of the 15.7 million people with diabetes in the United States, more than half (8.1 million) are women. Minority racial and ethnic groups are the hardest hit by type 2 diabetes; the prevalence is at least 2-4 times higher among black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian Pacific Islander women than among white women.
(credits to CDC)
How do you know if you have diabetes?
• Are you often thirsty, hungry, or tired?
• Do you urinate often?
• Do you have sores that heal slowly, tingling in your feet, or
blurry eyesight?
These MAY be signs of diabetes. Even without these signs, you
could still have diabetes. Ask your doctor to test you for diabetes as a part of your annual physical.
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