Diabetes – Is It Part of Your Life?
November is National Diabetes Month. Have you been diagnosed? Do you think you may be diabetic or pre-diabetic? Is someone in your family diabetic? Is it Type 1 or Type 2? These may be questions you are asking yourself. You have options. Begin by learning more about diabetes and living a healthier life.
According to the American Diabetes Association, Type 1 diabetes occurs at every age and in people of every race, shape and size. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes—and it means that your body doesn’t use insulin properly. Type 1 and Type 2 have similarities but the causes are different and so is treatment.
What about A1C? The American Diabetes Association states that A1C is a test that can identify prediabetes, which raises your risk for diabetes. It can be used to diagnose diabetes. And it’s used to monitor how well your diabetes treatment is working over time. It’s also a critical step in forming your game plan to manage diabetes with your diabetes care team.
Common sign and symptoms of diabetes:
- 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 (type 1)
- Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)
The American Diabetes Association has information on risk, nutrition, meal planning, fitness and more. There is also an online risk test and the results will be emailed to you.
Please check with a medical professional if you think you are diabetic or believe a family member may have diabetes.
OIC’s Health Literacy program is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLA) and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries (ODL).