Diabetes During Pregnancy


Diabetes is a disease where the body fails to make sufficient amounts insulin or fails to use it as it should. Insulin is the hormone which helps to balance the level of glucose in your blood.

Ordinarily, your body transforms nearly all of the food you take in into glucose. The glucose will then be transported to the body’s cells with the assistance of insulin. When your body doesn’t produce an adequate amount of insulin, or the insulin does not function as it should, the glucose won’t be able to enter the body’s cells. Instead, it remains in the blood making your blood glucose level too high.

There are two kinds of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Someone with type 1 diabetes must take insulin to survive as the body makes little if any insulin naturally. People with type 2 diabetes, produce insulin, but it does not perform like it should. The body develops resistance to the effects of insulin and produces more insulin to maintain normal glucose levels. As time passes, the body is not able to sustain sufficient levels to maintain the normal glucose levels and diabetes develops. Type 2 diabetes may also emerge due to other diseases or as a by-product of specific medications. Persons with type 2 diabetes might not be required to take insulin. They could be capable of controlling glucose levels with medication, proper diet or both.

Diabetes might be a common disease in a family’s history or perhaps be associated with particular lifestyle factors.

You’ll want to be tested for diabetes should you have any of these risk factors:

  • Overweight
  • Age 45 years or older
  • Physical inactivity
  • Family history of diabetes
  • Ethnic background of: Asian, Native American, African American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander
  • High blood pressure
  • Previous abnormal glucose screening results
  • History of gestational diabetes or a baby weighing more than 9 pounds at birth
  • High cholesterol
  • History of cardiovascular disease
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes symptoms include:

 

Type 1

  • Continuous hunger
  • Increased thirst or urination
  • Blurred vision
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Excessive fatigue

 

 

Type 2

  • Sores which are slow to heal
  • Any symptoms of type 1 diabetes
  • Loss of feeling or tingling in feet
  • Dry, itchy skin
  • Infections, such as a yeast infection, that keep returning
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