Diabetes can show up in different forms:
- Type 1 diabetes: Type 1 diabetes, the unpreventable form, is typically diagnosed in childhood or young adulthood and is formerly known as juvenile diabetes. In people with type 1 diabetes, the insulin producing cells in the pancreas (beta cells) stop functioning. Type 1 diabetes requires insulin administration for survival and can't be controlled with diet and exercise. Possible causes of type 1 include autoimmune disease, genetic disease, and environmental agents.
- Type 2 diabetes: Type 2 diabetes is the most common form accounting for 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes make some insulin, but either it's not enough or their cells become resistant to insulin. Many people with type 2 diabetes can control their blood sugar with diet, exercise, and oral medication, but some people still require insulin injections. In persons that have type 2 diabetes, they will likely to die 5 to 10 years earlier than healthy people, likely caused by cardiovascular disease. However, and this is a big however, many of these cases are preventable.
- Gestational diabetes: This form is a type of glucose intolerance that occurs in approximately 3 to 5 percent of pregnant women, and should be tested for during the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy. There's an increase risk for pregnant women if they have a strong family history of diabetes or are obese. Women who have gestational diabetes are then at an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life (up to 20 years).
You can't prevent type 1 diabetes, and gestational diabetes has limited preventable causes, but you can control the risk factors for type 2 diabetes:
- Obesity: This is the single greatest risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, because being overweight can inhibit the body from making or using insulin efficiently. People with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher have an 80 to 90 percent greater incidence of developing type 2 diabetes than people who maintain a healthy weight.
- Age: Most people who develop diabetes are over age 40 with the risk increasing as a person ages; however, the obesity epidemic in children is resulting in more type 2 diabetes being diagnosed in children.
- Family history of diabetes: If you have a first-degree relative with type 2 diabetes, you're at a higher risk.
- Gestational diabetes: If you had gestational diabetes, your risk for developing type 2 diabetes increases. According to the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) between 5 to 10 percent of women with gestational diabetes develop type 2 diabetes.
- Physical inactivity: You can prevent up to 80 percent of type 2 diabetes cases by adopting a healthy diet and increasing physical activity. Check with your doctor about a healthy diet and exercise plan to decrease your sugar levels and get back on track to a healthy weight.
