Questions and Answers

Diabetes is a disorder with how your body processes sugars. It leads to serious symptoms caused by chronic high blood sugar.

There are 2 different kinds of diabetes:

Diabetes can lead to high blood sugar, and high blood sugar can cause eye problems, heart and kidney problems, foot problems, strokes, nerve problems, etc.

Classic symptoms of diabetes include:

• Urinary symptoms (i.e. urinary incontinence, increased urination at night, etc.)
• Excessive thirst
• Excessive hunger
• Trouble with wound healing
• Increased infections
• Blurry vision

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, please discuss with a doctor. Consider speaking with your pediatrician if your child frequently expresses feeling fatigued, appears to be losing weight, seems thirstier than normal and/or is wetting the bed after being toilet trained. These may be signs of a Type I diabetes diagnosis.

Healthy adults can get their blood sugar checked at their primary care physician's office with a blood sample. If your blood sugar is very high, (>200 mg/dL) any time, or moderately high (>125 mg/dL) after fasting at two separate tests, you may be given a diabetes diagnosis. Your primary care physician may also take an "A1c" level to get a sense of how high your blood sugar has been on average over the past few months.

Depending on your age, the type and severity of your diabetes, based on symptoms and blood sugar level, you may be prescribed medication. Most medications either contain "insulin," an enzyme in your body that helps regulate blood sugar levels, or help you make your own insulin. In addition to medications, your doctor might suggest lifestyle changes including diet, exercise and weight loss to help manage your diabetes.

While different diabetes medications have different symptoms, always tell your doctor if you feel dizzy, experience abdominal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain), sweating, confusion, or chest pain. These may be signs of low blood sugar and may require you to change your medication regimen.

If you have diabetes, you may be at risk for a hyperglycemic crisis. This may occur if you don't have enough insulin and your blood sugar gets too high. It can present with nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, confusion, fatigue, trouble breathing, increasing urination and thirst, signs of dehydration and/or coma.

This is a medical emergency. Please seek immediate medical care and/or call 911 for help.

If your fasting blood sugar is 100-125 mg/dL, you may be diagnosed with prediabetes. Prediabetes is less severe than diabetes but may put you at risk for developing diabetes. While patients with diabetes often require medication in their treatment, patients with prediabetes may be able to regulate their blood sugar with diet and exercise.

Diabetes increases your risk of infection. Make sure to stay up to date with your vaccinations.

Diabetes also increases stroke risk. Make sure to maintain healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels. If you have high blood pressure or cholesterol, ask your doctor about appropriate treatment.

While some patients are at higher risk of developing diabetes because of genetics and other health issues, you may be able to reduce your risk through diet and exercise. Getting to a healthy weight, quitting smoking, and exercising 150 minutes a week can help prevent diabetes and reduce complications if you've been diagnosed with diabetes. It is important to meet with your doctor regularly to monitor your blood sugar and watch out for complications.

While eating well is important for managing diabetes, eating carbs (i.e. bread, potatoes and pasta) in moderation can be part of a healthy diet. The key to eating sweets and carbs with diabetes is keeping small portion sizes.

While overweight and obesity are risk factors for type 2 diabetes (T2DM), you can develop T2DM at any weight. Also, obesity does not always cause diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is not linked to a certain weight.

No cure has been found for diabetes at this time. Natural remedies can interact with diabetes medication and cause dangerous side effects by lowering blood sugar to unhealthy levels. Talk to your doctor about any natural treatments you may be using.