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| Hearing from your health care provider you have pre-diabetes, or the disease diabetes, can send shock and fear through you and your family. It doesn't have to be that way, though. Diabetes is a manageable disease. Being pro-active about your situation will give you power to overcome many obstacles. Its true, your life will change some, but making diabetes a family affair will increase not only the quantity of years ahead of you, but the quality of life as well. So exactly how does this disease come about? Read on. |
| After eating a meal, your body goes to work quickly to digest the food you have just eaten. During this digestion process, the body converts starches and sugars to glucose, (the sugar your body uses for fuel). Insulin (a hormone produced in the pancreas) is used by your body to control the amount of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Without insulin, the sugar cannot get into the blood cells, so it builds up in the blood. If this situation is not treated, the sugar keeps building up in the blood and eventually damages the heart, eyes, kidneys, and blood vessels. |
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| There are three types of diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes occurs when the body destroys the cells in the pancreas which produce insulin. Type II Diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin or can't use what is produced. The third type of Diabetes, Gestational, occurs during a small percentage of pregnancies. In 2002, the U, S, Department of Health, along with the American Diabetes Association identified the condition called pre-diabetes. It is the very early stages of the disease which occurs prior to the disease beginning in the body. |
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| Over half of the people who have Diabetes don't even know it. If you know you have it, you can control it and lead a productive life. By testing your bood, eating healthy, taking your medication, and being more physically active, you can eliminate or prolong the effects of uncontrolled diabetes. |
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