{"id":14260,"date":"2024-11-13T13:41:48","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T18:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp2.dinnertime.com\/content\/?p=14260"},"modified":"2024-11-13T16:34:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T21:34:31","slug":"awareness-helps-us-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp2.dinnertime.com\/content\/2024\/11\/13\/awareness-helps-us-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Awareness Helps Us All"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I want to live a healthy lifestyle, don\u2019t you? I\u2019m always on the lookout to read and adopt tips that will help keep me well. However, in November\u00a0it\u2019s important to focus awareness on a very serious topic,\u00a0diabetes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My daughter\u2019s best friend is a hilarious girl with high energy, a little drama and a big heart. She has type 1 diabetes. It\u2019s a scary disease that I didn\u2019t know enough about until she was diagnosed at age 11. Our whole family learned what to do if her blood sugars went too high, and what to do if they went too low. We learned what we should feed her and situations that would exacerbate her condition, like the extreme heat of a hot tub.<\/p>\n

Maintaining an even level of blood sugar through diet and daily exercise is important to her health. I mean, really<\/em> important. Too high or too low blood sugar levels can lead to coma and death if not promptly treated. Other really scary consequences of chronically high sugars are sight loss, stroke, or amputation.<\/p>\n

There are three types of diabetes:\"\"<\/h3>\n

Gestational Diabetes:\u00a0<\/strong>This develops during pregnancy. During pregnancy, the placenta produces hormones to support the pregnancy. However, these hormones can make your cells more resistant to insulin and the pancreas may not be able to keep up with the demand to produce more insulin. This results in too little glucose moving into the cells, so too much stays in the blood, resulting in gestational diabetes. Managing the blood sugar level through diet, exercise, and perhaps medication is important to the health of both mom and baby. Importantly, gestational diabetes does not necessarily mean that the mother will have diabetes after giving birth, though the risk is greater.\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Type 1:<\/strong><\/span> There are 2 million Americans with type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes occurs at every age, in people of every race, and of every shape and size.\u00a0<\/em>Unfortunately, type 1 diabetes is not yet curable, but\u00a0can be managed well with insulin, proper nutrition and exercise.<\/p>\n

Type 2:<\/strong><\/span> This is the most common form of diabetes. According to the CDC<\/a>, nearly 11.6% of the U.S. population has diabetes. Another 38% have pre-diabetes, a condition that, if not treated, often leads to type 2 diabetes within five years. However, weight loss and diet management (exclude sugary drinks!) can reverse pre-diabetes and, in some cases, reverse or lessen the need for medication for type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Pre-diabetes is an opportunity to turn your health back in the right direction before it\u2019s a real problem. Here\u2019s an eye-opener: Of those with pre-diabetes, 90% don\u2019t know they have it. Yikes! With pre-diabetes, there are no clear symptoms\u2014so you may have blood sugar levels that are higher than normal but not know it.\u00a0Take this quiz<\/a> to see if you are at risk for developing diabetes. And, if you have any of the following symptoms, discuss them with your doctor.<\/p>\n