American Diabetes Month® 2016
American Diabetes Month is observed every November as part of the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) efforts to bring national attention to the disease and the millions of people it affects.
Know the Symptoms
According to the ADA, these are common diabetes symptoms. However, some people with type 2 diabetes have symptoms so mild that they go unnoticed.
Common symptoms of diabetes:
- Urinating often
- Feeling very thirsty
- Feeling very hungry – even though you are eating
- Extreme fatigue
- Blurry vision
- Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
- Weight loss – even though you are eating more (type 1)
- Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)
Differences Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes
|Type 1 Diabetes||Type 2 Diabetes|
|Symptoms usually start in childhood or young adulthood. People often seek medical help, because they are seriously ill from sudden symptoms of high blood sugar.||The person may not have symptoms before diagnosis. Usually, the disease is discovered in adulthood, but an increasing number of children are being diagnosed with the disease.|
|Episodes of high blood sugar level (hypoglycemia) are common.||There are no episodes of low blood sugar level, unless the person is taking insulin or certain diabetes medicines.|
|It cannot be prevented.||It can be prevented or delayed with a healthy lifestyle, including maintaining a healthy weight, eating sensibly, and exercising regularly.|
Assess Your Risk
Type 2 diabetes can be delayed or even prevented with exercise and a proper diet. The ADA provides a Diabetes Risk Facts for you to find out your risk of Type 2 diabetes. They also provide links for ways to lower your risks and prevent full onset of diabetes if you’ve been diagnosed with high blood glucose levels.
Find out More
- The ADA has a website dedicated to providing information about diagnosing, preventing, and managing diabetes. It includes food and fitness tips, information about medical treatment and care, current events, and even an online support community.
- Of special interest to CMV drivers, the AMA website also has a specific section dealing with diabetes rules for commercial driver’s license holders.
- WebMD offers medically-focused information about diabetes symptoms, causes, diagnoses, treatments, and complications.
- The U.S. National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus offers similar information, and also includes videos and tutorials, clinical trial information, links to journal articles, and other useful information.
- There are a variety of websites that offer diabetic recipes. We have listed a few of them here: