Diabetes is a disease in which your body either does not produce insulin or does not properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that your body needs to convert sugar, starches, fruits and other food into energy.

There are almost 24 million adults and children living in the United States, or 7.8% of the population, who have diabetes. While almost 18 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes, about 6 million more (or nearly 1 in 4 people) don't know that they have the disease.

Overview

When you eat or drink, insulin in the body is used to break down the sugars in the food into glucose, allowing the glucose to work inside your body's cells. It is the job of the pancreas to produce the insulin. If the insulin is not being produced for whatever reason, diabetes may be the diagnosis.

There are four (4) major types of diabetes, although the first 2 are more common. They include:

• Type 1 Diabetes - Results from your body's failure to produce insulin. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.
• Type 2 Diabetes - Results from insulin resistance (where your body fails to properly use insulin) along with a shortage of insulin. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.
• Gestational Diabetes - Immediately after pregnancy, 5% to 10% of women are found to have diabetes, usually a form of type 2 diabetes which may or may not disappear.
• Pre-Diabetes - Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when the glucose levels in your blood are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. There are an estimated 57 million Americans who have pre-diabetes, in addition to the 24 million people that have diabetes.

Outlook

If you or someone you care for has recently been diagnosed with diabetes, you are no doubt experiencing a range of emotions. Fear ... anger ... denial ... frustration ... depression ... and maybe uncertainty are just a few of them. This is all very common.

In today's world, there are so many alternatives that help make living with diabetes relatively normal. While diet, exercise and medication are important to healthy living, there are an many food options at almost every restaurant, every grocery store, and in any diabetic program that may be suggested. It is knowing what is good and what is bad.

One of the many good sites for nutrition can be found at the American Diabetes Association.

Testing / Screening

In order to determine whether or not you have pre-diabetes or diabetes, your doctor may conduct a "Fasting Plasma Glucose" test, an "Oral Glucose Tolerance" test, or a "Hemoglobin A1c" test. All three (3) tests can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes, but the  American Diabetes Association recommends the Fasting Plasma Glucose test because it's easier, faster, and less expensive.

• Fasting Plasma Glucose Test - During this simple test, a machine is used to measure blood glucose. The test consists of a simple blood test (usually a pin-prick) where blood is extracted and measured. Before to being tested, you can't eat for 12 to 14 hours, so the test is usually done in the morning. With this test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes.

• Oral Glucose Tolerance Test - During this test, since activity can interfere with test results, you will be asked to sit quietly during the entire test. You may only drink water, and the test works like this:

  • You must eat a balanced diet that contains at least 150-200 grams of carbohydrates per day for 3 days before the test (fruits, breads, cereals, grains, rice, crackers, potatoes, beans, corn, etc.)

  • You can't eat, drink, smoke, or exercise for at least 8 hours before your first blood sample is taken.

  With this test, your blood glucose level is measured when you come into the office and again two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes.

• Hemoglobin A1c Test - During this test, typically performed at a doctor's office, some of your blood is taken as a sample. The amount of sugar that is "sticking" to your red blood cells is measured and, as the red blood cells live about 3 months, a relatively good view of your average blood sugar content for the last 3 months can be determined.   Sorry ... no cheating on this test!! The A1c level can be compared to the blood sugar level as follows:

  

If you want more information, an excellent resource is the American Diabetes Association (click this link to visit) from which the information above has been extracted.