Are You At Risk For Diabetes?
Are you 45 or older? Are you overweight or obese? If you answered “Yes” to both questions, you may be at risk for diabetes. Other risk factors include a family history of diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
Diabetes is a lifelong medical condition marked by high levels of a sugar called glucose, a source of energy for the body. Insulin, which is produced by the pancreas, moves glucose from the bloodstream to the body’s muscle and fat cells. With diabetes, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin and/or the muscle and fat cells do not respond to the insulin. The rate of diabetes has been growing at an alarming rate – 5% a year since 1990. Currently, almost 24 million people in the United States suffer from diabetes, and almost six million people who have diabetes are unaware that they have the disease.
Fatigue, always being thirsty, increased urination, increased appetite and blurred vision are the usual symptoms for diabetes. If you have any of these symptoms, ask your personal physician about having a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test to check for diabetes. You can also go to www.diabetes.org and take the Diabetes Risk Test by answering a few simple questions.
Words: 201