Diabetes... Are You at Risk?

Southampton Hospital joins with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in November to increase awareness of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. According to the ADA, nearly 26 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes and another 79 million are at high risk. People with the disease can have a very high quality of life, but early detection, treatment, and ongoing management are essential.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that makes it difficult for people to process foods into the energy they need to live a healthy and productive life. It all has to do with insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas that converts the foods we eat into glucose, which provides the body’s cells with energy.

People with diabetes either do not produce insulin (type 1) or do not use insulin properly (type 2). Expectant mothers can also develop diabetes (gestational) around the 24th week of their pregnancy. Unmanaged diabetes puts your health at risk because the body is unable to regulate blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. Complications from unmanaged diabetes can lead to serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke, or kidney failure.

Symptoms of diabetes include: urinating often, feeling very thirsty, feeling very 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), and tingling/pain/numbness in the hands or feet. If you have any of these symptoms, see your doctor.

Get Tested. It’s Easy!

Testing for diabetes is simple. “Early diagnosis and proper treatment can prevent complications,” says Janet O’Grady, Southampton Hospital’s Certified Diabetes Educator. "Tell your primary care physician about any symptom you may have and you'll be tested.”

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include:

• Having prediabetes (high blood glucose, but not high enough for the diabetes diagnosis)
• Being 45 years old or older
• Having a family history of diabetes
• Being overweight
• Not exercising regularly
• Having high blood pressure
• Having low “good cholesterol” (HDL)

Certain racial or ethnic groups (Non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians and Alaska Natives) are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes, as are women previously diagnosed with gestational diabetes or who have had a baby weighing 9 pounds or more at birth.

To take a short online risk test, click here.

You Have Diabetes. Now What?

“Developing an individualized treatment plan is important for patients who want to live a full and healthy life with controlled diabetes,” says Ms. O’Grady. "Many people live healthy, happy, and abundant lives not in spite of diabetes, but because of it. Keeping diabetes in control is the key."

To manage diabetes over the long term, seek out resources from the ADA or join a local support group. Southampton Hospital hosts a free “Living with Diabetes” program with a featured topic and guest speaker each month. The program is certified by the ADA and meets from Noon to 1:00 p.m. at The Ed & Phyllis Davis Wellness Institute on the 3rd floor of Southampton Hospital (240 Meeting House Lane, Southampton, NY) on the last Wednesday of each month. Upcoming topics include menu planning (10/30) and how to test your blood sugar (11/20).

For more information and to sign up, call 631-726-8800.