Having a long-lasting health condition like diabetes strongly impacts your body’s ability to convert sugar into energy. To combat such chronic illness, you need a health professional with unparalleled experiences, such as the Harbor Community Health Center caregivers. The San Pedro diabetes healthcare givers compassionately offer individualized treatment plans to help you manage diabetes conditions. The health officers are committed to ensuring the residents of South Bay and Los Angeles have greatly benefited from their services. Call the office in California or plan an online appointment today to manage your condition.
Understanding Diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus)
The food you consume is often broken into glucose then released into the bloodstream. If your blood sugar rises, your pancreas is signaled to produce insulin. Insulin is the key to letting your blood sugar into the cells for energy use.
Diabetes is a metabolic condition responsible for high glucose. The insulin hormone transports the glucose from the blood into your body cells for storage or energy use. In a diabetic condition, the body either does not effectively utilize the insulin it makes or makes inadequate insulin. If left untreated, it can result in loss of vision, kidney diseases, nerve damage, and heart disease.
Types of Diabetes
The main types of diabetes are type I, type II, and gestational diabetes (manifests during pregnancy.)
Type I Diabetes
It is caused by the body attacking itself (autoimmune reaction), damaging the pancreatic cells eventually stopping your body from manufacturing insulin. About 10% of individuals with diabetes have Type I with fast manifesting symptoms. Often, the condition is diagnosed in young adults, children, and teens. Type I diabetic patients require perpetual insulin intake to survive. Its prevention is not known.
Type II Diabetes
Here, the body produces insulin; however, it does not use it appropriately, hindering normal blood sugar levels. Approximately 95% of diabetes have Type II, which develops gradually, mostly in adults. It never posits symptoms; thus, it is significant to test your blood sugar. It can be delayed or prevented by lifestyle adjustments like eating a healthy diet, exercise, and weight loss.
Gestational diabetes
This type of diabetes occurs in expectant mothers with no history of diabetes condition. Experiencing such a condition puts your unborn child at the peril of acquiring health complications. Gestational diabetes disappears after birth; nevertheless, it heightens the chances of acquiring diabetes Type II afterward. As a result, your child is likely to be obese and later in life develop Type II.
Prediabetes
Prediabetes has higher blood sugar levels than usual; however, not high to the level of being diagnosed with Type II diabetes. The condition puts you at risk for stroke, heart disease, and Type II diabetes. Life adjustment is good to help you reverse it.
General Symptoms
The symptoms include:
- Increased hunger and thirst.
- Blurred vision.
- Slow-healing sores.
- Continued urination.
- Fatigue.
- Weight loss.
Treatment
The main therapy is insulin for Type I; it replaces the hormone the body cannot produce. There are four types of insulin, they include;
(a) Rapid-acting insulin that works within 15minutes with a 4-hour duration.
(b) short-acting, which works within 30minutes, lasting for 8hours.
(c) intermediate-acting insulin that works within 2hours, lasting for 18hours.
(d) long-acting insulin working after a few hours and lasts for more than 24hours.
Type II requires adjustments in diet and doing exercises. If the condition persists, your health practitioner will prescribe the required medication.
Gestational diabetes needs close monitoring of your glucose. High glucose needs changes in your diet and exercise to lower it.
To learn more about your condition, call our California office or schedule an online appointment today.
