That's especially bad news for women, because the disease can affect both mother and child during pregnancy, and women with diabetes are more likely to have a heart attack (and at a younger age) than women without diabetes. Along with the worries about diabetes, there's a lot of misinformation (like skinny girls can't get the disease, or eating too much candy causes it), which is why we've gathered expert answers to the most common questions.
Q1:What's the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes?
A1:Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. It's most often diagnosed in patients under 18, but it can strike at any age. Type 1 diabetics need insulin to manage the disease.
In type 2 diabetes, the body loses its sensitivity to insulin, the hormone that helps muscles absorb and use blood sugar. Traditionally, type 2 diabetes was diagnosed in older people. But with the rise in obesity, it's now being diagnosed at younger ages, sometimes even in children. Some traditionally thin populations are also being diagnosed with the disease as well. Type 2 is generally treated with changes to diet and exercise habits, as well as oral medication or insulin.
Q2:My father has diabetes. Does that raise my risk?
A2:Yes. Having a family member with diabetes raises your risk of developing type 1 by about 5 percent and type 2 diabetes by more than 30 percent.
Q3:Can diet or exercise really prevent diabetes?
A3:Yes, exercising and eating a healthy diet helps you keep off excess weight, which can prevent or at least delay diabetes. If you already have diabetes, doing aerobic exercise and resistance training helps by encouraging the muscles to take up more blood sugar.
Over the short term, it may even reduce the amount of blood-sugar-lowering medication you need to take. Long term, exercise helps lower the risk of complications like blindness and nerve and kidney damage by helping you better manage blood-sugar levels. On the diet front, a recent study found that type 2 diabetics who ate a Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fish, fruits, nuts, and olive oil, lost more weight and went longer without blood-sugar-lowering medication than those on a low-fat diet.
Q4:I'm skinny, so I can't get diabetes, right?
A4:Unfortunately, your risk of developing type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes increases substantially -- between 20 percent and 50 percent. (Gestational diabetes occurs when hormones that help a baby's placenta develop interfere with the mother's insulin, resulting in higher blood sugars. It occurs in about 4 percent of U.S. pregnancies each year.) Your personal odds depend upon other factors like ethnicity, genetics, and weight. Losing weight after you've had a baby can help limit your risk.
Q5:Is there another form of diabetes?
A5:There are two main types of diabetes – Type 1 and Type 2. Unlike people with Type 1, those with Type 2 still have some insulin-producing cells, but either not enough insulin is produced or it doesn't work properly. In most cases, Type 2 is linked with being overweight and usually appears in people over the age of 40 or over 25 in Black and South Asian people.
Recently, however, more children are being diagnosed with Type 2. Type 2 diabetes is treated with lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet, weight loss and increased physical activity. Medication, including insulin, may also be required.
There are also other, quite rare forms of diabetes, such as Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY) and neonatal diabetes.
Q6:If I had gestational diabetes that went away, should I worry?
A6:Unfortunately, your risk of developing type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes increases substantially -- between 20 percent and 50 percent. (Gestational diabetes occurs when hormones that help a baby's placenta develop interfere with the mother's insulin, resulting in higher blood sugars. It occurs in about 4 percent of U.S. pregnancies each year.) Your personal odds depend upon other factors like ethnicity, genetics, and weight. Losing weight after you've had a baby can help limit your risk.
Q7:How many children have Type 1?
A7:About 20,000 children in the UK have Type 1. Overall, around 2.8 million people in the UK are diagnosed with diabetes (Type 1 and 2). There are potential complications associated with the condition. These include a higher chance of developing problems in later life, such as heart disease or damage to the kidneys, eyes or nerves.
However, you can greatly reduce your child's risk by helping them to control their blood glucose levels, encouraging them to eat healthily and helping them to be physically active on a regular basis.
Q8:How many Americans have diabetes?
A8:Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes; another 57 million have prediabetes, a precursor to the disease. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that if the diabetes epidemic continues, one in three Americans will develop it in his or her lifetime.
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