Diabetes

            In the United States right now there is about 17 million people--6.2 percent of the population--have diabetes and the amount that is Diagnosed: 11.1 million people and the amount of Undiagnosed: 5.9 million people. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention www.cdc.gov/diabetes,www.cdc.gov/nchs) This is a very high mark of how many people that have diabetes in America. Diabetes is a deadly and silent killers for the reason that a lot of Americans don't even know that they even have this disease. And when they do, they have already developed life-threatening complications. Which include blindness, kidney disease, nerves disease, heart disease, strokes, and amputation. I know from my friends and families that have diabetes that it is the hardest disease to live with. When a person has diabetes they have to change their whole lifestyle around. Diabetes usually runs in the family and it also takes effect in people that are overweight too. There are Four types of diabetes the first one is Type 1 diabetes - Results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. The other type of diabetes is Type 2 diabetes - Pre-diabetes - Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. It is estimated that at least 16 million Americans have pre-diabetes, in addition to the 17 million with diabetes. Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency. Approximately 90-95% (16 million) have type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes - Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases in the United States each year.