Are You at Risk for Diabetes?

Unlike Type 1 diabetes, which shows up in early childhood, Type 2 diabetes can creep up insidiously, appearing later in life and causing damage to your health for years before you get a diagnosis. 

Knowing your risk level can help you catch early warning signs and perhaps avoid this chronic disease, which affects more than 38.4 million Americans.

At Macomb Medical Clinic in Sterling Heights, Michigan, Mark Rosenberg, DO, and his team determine your risk for diabetes and then tailor a plan to help you manage or even reverse any trend toward high blood sugar levels. With November set aside as National Diabetes Month, here’s what you need to know.

Diabetes basics

There are two main types of diabetes. The first, Type 1 diabetes, develops because the pancreas doesn’t make insulin, which is what helps your body manage your blood glucose. There is no prevention or cure for this type of diabetes. 

The main course of treatment is insulin injections to keep blood sugar levels stable. You can live a long, normal, healthy life with controlled Type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes usually appears later in life and can have multiple causes, including a failing pancreas and/or insulin resistance. Prediabetes typically precedes Type 2 diabetes and brings  warning signs that allow for early intervention and potentially the ability to reverse the onset of Type 2 diabetes. 

The main treatment for prediabetes is altering your lifestyle, including changing what you eat and how much, and improving your exercise regimen. If you develop Type 2 diabetes, you’ll likely have to live with a highly restricted diet, oral medications, and/or insulin injections.

Are you at risk for Type 2 diabetes?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes include:

• Having prediabetes
• Having an immediate family member with diabetes
• Having gestational diabetes during pregnancy
• Being overweight or obese
• Having fatty liver disease
• Exercising fewer than three times a week
• Having a certain ethnic makeup (African-American, Latino, or First Peoples)

According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 12% of Americans have diabetes, and almost a fourth of these cases are as yet undiagnosed.

How to lower your risk for diabetes

The best way to prevent Type 2 diabetes from developing is to get regular screenings for prediabetes and act accordingly. If you fall into one or more risk categories, a simple blood glucose screening can tell us if your blood sugar is high, and we can test regularly to make sure we’re on top of things if your numbers start climbing.

If you fall into prediabetes range, we create a personalized program to help keep you healthy and reduce your risk of diabetes. 

We believe strongly in preventative medicine to help you avoid chronic conditions like diabetes, and even offer medical weight management to help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight as part of your diabetes avoidance program.

To learn more about prediabetes and diabetes risks, contact our office at 586-315-2393 today.