Frequently Asked Questions

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the level of sugar in your blood is too high. This happens when the body can’t make or is resistant to insulin — a hormone or substance produced in the pancreas that regulates blood sugar — leading to elevated levels of glucose in the blood.

Yes. Type 1 diabetes — once called juvenile diabetes — is when the pancreas produces little to no insulin.

Type 2 diabetes — once called adult-onset diabetes or insulin-resistant diabetes — is when the body is resistant to insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes.

Gestational diabetes can also develop during pregnancy.

Yes, especially type 2 diabetes. We once thought of type 2 diabetes as something that happened in middle-aged or older adults, which is why it used to be called adult-onset diabetes. Unfortunately, we’re now seeing it in adolescents and children.

The obesity epidemic. Obesity is the biggest contributor to developing diabetes, and that’s related to lack of physical activity, poor nutrition and lack of portion control.

With type 2 diabetes, it’s mostly lifestyle related. Anyone overweight or obese that leads a sedentary life is at risk. Anyone with a family history of diabetes is also at risk.

The most important intervention is education. Kids must be taught from an early age to eat right and value exercise. This is what’s going to make a huge difference in curbing the diabetes epidemic.

Most adults should have a regular physical with their primary care physician and have either a fasting blood sugar test or an oral glucose tolerance test — especially if they are at high risk for developing diabetes.

This is a number assigned to foods that tells us how a particular food affects blood sugar. Not all foods are created equal. For those who have or are at risk of diabetes, they must understand that if a certain food will affect their blood sugar significantly, they should avoid that food or restrict the portion amount.

Poorly controlled blood sugar can lead to complications in almost any organ of the body over time. It can lead to blindness, kidney failure, high blood pressure, heart failure and limb amputations because circulation is compromised. Changing lifestyle habits has clearly been shown to reduce the risk of these complications, so it’s so important to make the investment in ourselves through diet and being active. We can’t expect a pill or medicine to take care of the problem.

Another important piece of managing diabetes is mental health. Depression can be a barrier to getting diabetes under control, and about 20 percent of people with diabetes have depression. When we talk about making changes, mental health is something that needs to be addressed.