Diabetes Specialist

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a disorder that develops when there’s a problem with your body’s production of the hormone insulin. Insulin is made in your pancreas, and you need it to regulate the sugars in your blood.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune form of the condition, which means your body mistakenly attacks its tissues. With Type 1 diabetes, your body destroys the cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Because your body can’t make any insulin, you need insulin therapy for life.

Type 2 diabetes is much more common and tends to affect older people as it develops slowly over time. With Type 2 diabetes, your body either isn’t making enough insulin, or it can’t use the insulin it’s making.

You can’t prevent Type 1 diabetes, but Type 2 is entirely preventable.

What are the symptoms of diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes develops so slowly that you probably won’t realize there’s anything wrong at first. You might think any mild symptoms are due to aging, and ignore them. As diabetes gets worse, you might experience:

• Constant thirst and hunger
• Chronic fatigue
• Frequent urination 
• Blurred vision
• Dry and itchy skin
• Slow-healing wounds
• Tingling hands and feet
• Recurrent infections 

If diabetes is left untreated, you can develop serious complications such as diabetic neuropathy, leg ulcers, and loss of sight. Eventually, diabetes might lead to amputation, coma, or death.

Before you develop diabetes, your body enters a phase called prediabetes. At this point, your body has higher levels of blood sugar than is healthy, but it’s not too late to reverse the problem and avoid developing diabetes.

How is Type 2 diabetes treated?

A healthy lifestyle is key to treating diabetes. If you catch it early enough, adopting a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and cutting out bad habits can even reverse the condition. If you need help with losing weight, quitting smoking or alcohol, or eating a better diet, Dr. Dave can advise and support you.

Very often, this is all you need to do to manage your diabetes. However, in some cases, you might need to take medication as well. You need to attend regular checkups with Dr. Dave so he can monitor your blood sugar and check for complications. This includes a thorough check of your feet, which are vulnerable to infections and ulcers.

Seeing Dr. Dave for a routine blood test can identify the early signs of diabetes and enable you to prevent this life-changing condition. Call Gulf West Medical Associates today to arrange your diabetes test or book an appointment online.