Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects your body’s ability to properly control the amount of sugar in your bloodstream.

With type 1 diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough of the hormone insulin to keep blood sugar levels under control. With type 2 diabetes, you produce insulin but can’t properly utilize it for blood sugar control.

Gestational diabetes can occur in pregnant women, and prediabetes is a condition that causes high blood sugar before you develop diabetes.

Common signs and symptoms that may indicate you have diabetes include:
• Increased hunger or thirst
• Frequent urination
• Fatigue
• Frequent infections
• Unexplained weight loss
• Irritability
• Blurry vision
• Frequent infections
• Slow-healing sores

When left untreated, diabetes can cause serious complications like heart disease, nerve damage, eye damage, kidney damage, skin conditions, and foot problems. You may also experience hearing impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, or depression.

While diabetes can happen to anyone, some factors increase your risk of developing it.

Examples include:

• Physical inactivity

• Overweight and obesity

• Older age

• Family history of diabetes

• Genetics

• Past gestational diabetes

• Polycystic ovary syndrome in women

• High blood pressure

• High cholesterol

Ways to reduce your risk of developing type 2 and gestational diabetes include maintaining a healthy weight, eating nutritious foods, and getting regular exercise.

To diagnose diabetes, South Bay Internal Medicine & Family Practice discusses your symptoms and medical history. They complete a physical examination and have you undergo a blood test to assess your blood sugar levels.

Common diabetes treatments include:

Lifestyle changes
If you’re overweight, weight loss can help you better control blood sugar. Eating healthy foods, controlling your carbohydrate and added sugar intake, and getting regular exercise are important.

Oral medications
Taking oral diabetes medications helps you keep high blood sugar levels under control.

Insulin injections
If you have type 1 diabetes, or in some cases type 2 diabetes, South Bay Internal Medicine & Family Practice may recommend you use insulin injections to better control your blood sugar levels.

Don’t let diabetes go undetected or untreated and cause serious problems for your health.