TOO MUCH BLOOD SUGAR

BY FAITH LEWIS TOO MUCH BLOOD SUGAR

HAVING DIABETES ISN’T SO SWEET

What’s your blood sugar right now? What would happen if you ate that slice of pizza? Most people wouldn’t be able to answer that. But for the 34.2 million Americans living with diabetes, it’s something they ask themselves countless times every day. Before meals. After meals. Between snacks. If they feel dizzy, irritable, or have a headache. What most people can do without thinking, a diabetic must analyze. What is diabetes? If you’re going to understand diabetes, you’ll need to brush up on a little vocabulary first. Blood sugar: This is a measure of how much glucose is in your blood. A healthy blood sugar level is less than 100 mg/dL (milligrams of glucose per 100 milliliters of blood) after not eating for eight hours. “Fasting blood sugar of 100-125 is prediabetes; greater than 126 is considered diabetic,” says Dr. Issa Fakhouri, an internal medicine physician with Kaiser Permanente in Stockton and Kaiser Permanente’s clinical lead for diabetes care in the Central Valley. Carbs: Carbohydrates are the sugars, starches, and fibers found naturally in fruits and veggies, dairy products, and grains. Carbs are broken down into glucose by the body and are an important fuel for 34.2 million Americans (10.5% of the popula- tion) have diabetes.

cells. Diabetes: Diabetes is the medical condition that results from a lack of insulin, either because the body is no longer able to produce insulin or cannot produce enough. Insulin: Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that acts as the key to unlock cells and allow glucose to be processed.

Though the symptoms of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are similar, both the causes and treatments differ drastically. “For T2 Diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the body cannot use insulin properly, also known as an insulin resistance,” explains Dr. Tarandeep Kaur, an endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism specialist with Dignity Health Medical Group in Stockton. Type 2 diabetes is often related to obesity and, while insulin might be prescribed, it is often possible to mitigate the symptoms and severity by adopting a healthy lifestyle and losing weight.

Type 1 diabetes, however, is caused when the pancreas stops creating insulin altogether and the patient must replace the missing insulin through daily injections. Typically, this means fast-acting insulin before each meal or snack exceeding 15 carbohydrates and a long-acting insulin shot once per day. Type 1 diabetes is not reversible and this diagnosis means the patient will be insulin dependent for the rest of their life. There are several other types of diabetes that are significantly less common, such as gestational diabetes (a complication of pregnancy where a woman develops diabetic symptoms) or maturity-onset diabetes of the young, which may account for about five percent of diabetes cases. “Some of the most common symptoms of diabetes include frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, unexplained weight loss, extreme fatigue, irritability, and blurry vision,” says Dr. Fakhouri. Some people report noticing their

Between 2012 & 2016 the price of insulin doubled in the US.

“For T2 Diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the body cannot use insulin properly, also known as an insulin resistance,” - Taran deep Kaur, Dignity Health Medical Group

urine smelling oddly sweet before diagnosis, which was a result of their body expelling excess glucose that cells could not absorb. It’s important to remember that diabetes can develop at any age, so if you or your child develops any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor.

LEARN MORE:

KAISER PERMANENTE OF CENTRAL VALLEY

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS Thrive.KaiserPermanente.org/Care-NearYou/Northern-California/CentralValley

ST. JOSEPH’S MEDICAL CENTER

1800 N. California St., Stockton (209) 943-2000 DignityHealth.org

Risk Factors and Prevention Risk factors for Type 2 diabetes include: •Obesity •A family history •High blood pressure •Low levels of HDL “good” cholesterol •Previous gestational diabetes diagnosis •Having given birth to a baby weighing nine pounds or more •Some ethnicities are also at higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, such as African American, Hispanics and Latinos, Pacific Islanders, and others. •The cause of Type 1 is still largely not understood, making it impossible to prevent – at least for the time being. There is evidence of a genetic component, but research is still ongoing.