All You Need to Know About Diabetes

Words Jadesola Oginni

Diabetic Specialist Midwife and Antenatal Teacher Jadesola Oginni explains all you need to know about diabetes.

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What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Blood glucose is your main source of energy and comes from the food you eat. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps glucose from food get into your cells to be used for energy. Sometimes your body doesn’t make enough—or any—insulin or doesn’t use insulin well. Glucose then stays in your blood and doesn’t reach your cells.

Type 1

If you have type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. Your immune system attacks and destroys the cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to stay alive.

Type 2

If you have type 2 diabetes, your body does not make or use insulin well. You can develop type 2 diabetes at any age, even during childhood. However, this type of diabetes occurs most often in middle-aged and older people. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes 

Gestational diabetes develops in some women when they are pregnant. Most of the time, this type of diabetes goes away after the baby is born. However, if you’ve had gestational diabetes, you have a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Sometimes diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy is actually type 2 diabetes.

Other types of diabetes

Less common types include monogenic diabetes, which is an inherited form of diabetes, and cystic fibrosis-related diabetes.

Prevalence 

-       Age above 45

-       Ethnicity

-       BMI

-       Pregnancy

-       Family history 

Complications 

-       Heart disease

-       Stroke

-       Kidney problems 

-       Eye problems

-       Dental disease

-       Nerve damage 

-       Foot problems

Prevention 

-       Low carbs

-       Regular check ups

-       Reduce weight

-       Exercise

Top Tips:

-       See your GP every 2-3 years for a random blood sugar reading and a HbA1c test. 

-       Increase your exercise activity 

-       Eat a low carb diet. 

-       Reduced refined sugars. 

-       Lose weight if your BMI is above 30.