Learning that you have diabetes is frightening, but it doesn't mean you can't live a normal, healthy life. Feeling overwhelmed with information, lifestyle changes, and doctor's appointments are natural.
UPMC's doctors and team of diabetes experts provide tailored care to help you manage your diabetes. This helps reduce the risk of long-term complications.
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Diabetes is a disease that causes high blood sugar. It affects about 11% of the U.S. population.
Most forms of diabetes are long-term health issues that prevent your body from using sugar (glucose) for energy. Blood sugar fuels the cells in your body so they work correctly.
Your body digests the carbohydrates you eat and releases them into the blood as glucose. When glucose builds up in your blood, it signals your pancreas to release a hormone called insulin.
Insulin's job is to move the sugar from your blood into your cells for them to use as fuel.
Diabetes occurs when your body can't make enough insulin, or your body can't use insulin properly.
As a result, too much glucose stays in your bloodstream.
Over time, high blood sugar can lead to other health problems.
There are three main types of diabetes:
Each type of diabetes has different causes.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Scientists aren't sure how type 1 diabetes starts or how to prevent it. It might happen because of your genes or certain viruses that trigger the immune system.
Type 2 diabetes often develops because of genetics, lifestyle factors (like not being active enough), and being overweight. It often starts as insulin resistance, which means insulin isn't working well.
As blood sugar levels increase due to the resistance, the pancreas tries to make more insulin. Eventually, it can't keep up, and blood sugar remains high. Over time, your insulin-making cells may get damaged from working too hard.
Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy in women who do not have type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
Hormones made by the placenta turn up your body's insulin resistance to ensure the baby gets enough sugar. Usually, the pancreas makes more insulin to compensate.
In some people, the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin, causing higher-than-normal blood sugars. Once the baby and placenta are out, hormones and blood sugar levels return to normal.
Certain factors outside your control — like your genes, age, or ethnicity — can increase your risk of diabetes.
But there are other risk factors you can control to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.
If you get diabetes, doing all you can to reduce the risk of long-term health problems is essential. Diabetes complications are more likely if you have chronically high blood sugar.
These factors increase your risk of diabetes:
The best way to reduce your risk of diabetes is to live a healthy lifestyle and maintain a healthy weight.
Always follow your doctor's advice about health issues that can increase your diabetes risk.
If left untreated, diabetes can lead to:
Your care team will help you check and manage your blood sugar to reduce your risk of these complications.
Diabetes symptoms can vary depending on how high your blood sugar is.
Type 1 diabetes causes more severe symptoms that come on quickly.
Type 2 or gestational diabetes may cause mild symptoms that are easy to miss. Or you may not have any major symptoms until complications arise.
The most common symptoms and early signs of Type 1 diabetes include:
Call your doctor if you or your child has these diabetes symptoms, especially if they are severe or happen suddenly. They can check your blood sugar and test for diabetes.
Sometimes, one of the first signs of Type 1 diabetes is a life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). It happens when there is little or no insulin available.
In addition to the above symptoms, DKA causes:
DKA is very serious and possibly deadly.
If you or your child has any of these symptoms, call 911 and get to the hospital quickly.
Doctors diagnose type 1 or 2 diabetes by measuring the amount of sugar in your blood. They'll do a quick finger prick test or draw blood to check your glucose levels.
Your blood sugar is lowest when fasting (nothing to eat for at least 8 hours). It increases after a meal.
You may have diabetes if:
They'll likely also test your hemoglobin A1C levels using a blood draw. A1C indicates your average blood sugar level over the last 2 to 3 months. A1C levels should be six or lower.
All pregnant women have a blood test to screen for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. The lab will ask you to drink a very sweet glucose beverage and draw your blood an hour afterward.
If that reading exceeds 140 mg/dL, you may need a 3-hour glucose tolerance test. This test is similar, but the drink has more sugar. The tech tests your blood when fasting and then each hour for three hours.
Gestational diabetes blood sugar level cut-offs are lower because the high glucose is dangerous to the baby.
You may have gestational diabetes if the 3-hour test comes back with two or more readings above these bounds:
Doctors treat diabetes in various ways based on:
A healthy diet and lifestyle can help improve your blood sugar and make it easier to manage diabetes.
UPMC has a team of registered dietitians, exercise therapists, and behavioral health experts to help you:
Many people with type 2 or gestational diabetes can manage their blood sugar with diet and lifestyle changes.
If you need more help, your doctor may suggest these medicines:
Last reviewed by Susan Marchezak, CRNP on 2024-03-28.
