RICHLAND, Wash. – According to the American Diabetes Association, March 26 is diabetes alert day. This is a one-day wake-up call to encourage people to get screened and find out if they are at risk for diabetes.
According to the University of Washington Medicine, people can be diagnosed with diabetes at any age. Most forms of it are chronic, but it is manageable.
Diabetes is a condition in which the body doesn’t make enough insulin, leading to high blood sugar. Monitoring diabetes looks different for everyone. Dr. Irl Hirsch, an endocrinologist at the University of Washington Medicine, said getting checked no matter your age is essential.
“Diabetes is the number one cause of end-stage renal disease, lower extremity amputation, and blindness,” said Dr. Hirsch. “. If we treat people earlier, we will be doing a huge benefit of reducing the frequency of these complications.”
According to UW Medicine, the main difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes is that with type 1 diabetes, your pancreas doesn’t make insulin because the body attacks cells inside the pancreas that create insulin — with type 2 diabetes. The pancreas makes less than it normally should.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 22 percent of the U.S. population is undiagnosed, and more than 38 million people are living with it. This is why doctors encourage a simple blood test. The doctors test your A1C hemoglobin, which checks your average blood sugar for the past three months.
Dr. Hirsch said The most common type of diabetes is type two. Type 2 is usually seen in obese people. He told People with family histories of type 2 should be screened starting as early as middle school.
“Whether one is 15 or 35 or 55,” said Dr. Hirsch. “If they have pre-diabetes, we now have very effective ways to stop the progression to full-blown diabetes.”
Dr. Hirsh said stopping the progression is usually cheap and effective. You can do this by paying attention to what you’re eating, cutting down on junk food and fast food, and going for a walk.
Hirsch says the root of the problem is the different lifestyles and the need for more exercise.
