What causes diabetes?

• Pancreatic damage: Your pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin

• Insulin resistance: Your body isn’t responding to the effects of insulin properly

• Hormonal imbalances: During pregnancy, or Cushing syndrome cause type 2 diabetes

• Autoimmune disease: Your immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas

What are the types?

• Type 2: Your body isn’t making enough insulin and/or your body isn‘t responding properly to insulin (most common)

• Type 1: Your immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells

• Prediabetes: The stage before type 2

• Gestational diabetes: This develops during pregnancy and usually goes away after pregnancy

• Type 3c: Your pancreas has experienced enough damage that it affects your ability to produce insulin

• Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults: This is type 1, but it develops much more slowly.

• Maturity onset diabetes of the young: A genetic mutation that affects how your body makes and uses insulin

• Neonatal diabetes: Occurs within the first 6 months of life (very rare)

• Brittle Diabetes: This is type one but has more severe episodes of high and low blood sugar

How do I know if I have diabetes?

• The symptoms are: dry mouth, frequent urination, fatigue, blurred vision, unexplained weight loss, numbness in your hands or feet, slow-healing sores, frequent skin infections

• Speak to your primary care physician if you are experiencing any of these symptoms

What are diabetes complications?

• The risks of unmanaged diabetes or if your blood sugar levels are too high for too long:

  • Coronary artery disease

  • Heart attack

  • Stroke

  • Atherosclerosis

  • Nerve damage

  • Neuropathy

  • Kidney Failure

  • Blindness

  • Skin infections

  • Sexual dysfunction

  • Gastroparesis

  • Hearing loss