November is Diabetes Awareness Month, so we thought we’d provide some information to help you decipher the signs and symptoms of this invisible epidemic. Read the post from Maureen Daniello, Martin Memorial’s diabetes education program coordinator, to learn more or take this diabetes quiz to test your knowledge. Check out the Palm Beach Post’s report on our weight management programs, aimed at preventing type 2 diabetes in teens and adults.
When you have diabetes, the food you eat cannot be used for energy either because your body is not making enough of a hormone called insulin, or the insulin you have is not working the way it should.
Either way, sugar cannot get into your body’s cells. Instead of entering the cells, it stays trapped in the bloodstream, raising the amount of sugar in your blood to abnormally high levels.
There are some tell-tale signs of diabetes. Because your body is not getting the sugar it needs, you are likely to feel tired. You may urinate more often than usual, you may be very thirsty, or you may lose weight even though you are eating the way you normally do.
If you are diagnosed with diabetes, keeping your blood sugar low is crucial. According to the American Diabetes Association, a normal fasting blood sugar range for a person who does not have diabetes is less than 100 mg/dL and the target blood sugar for most people with diabetes is 90-130 mg/dL .
Unfortunately, your body cannot lower blood sugar by itself. You have to help, by balancing what you eat with regular exercise, medications (if prescribed) and weight loss (if you are overweight). Knowing what to eat and how it affects your blood sugar is vital to controlling diabetes.
Martin Memorial’s diabetes education program can help you learn how to live with diabetes. For more information, call (772) 223-2822.
--Maureen Daniello, RN
Program Coordinator, Diabetes Education
Martin Memorial Center for Health and Healing
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