I just wanted to raise awareness to an issue that isn't usually brought up as much as other health conditions.
There are two types of diabetes, but I will be talking more about type one since that is the type I have and have experience first hand on what it's like.
Type one is when your pancreas makes no insulin.
Type two is when your pancreas still does not produce enough insulin or the body cannot use the insulin adequately.
The exact cause of type one diabetes is not exactly known, but it sometimes has something to do with genetics.
Type two is most commonly but not always caused by overweight, obesity and lack of physical activity.
Diabetes is a daily struggle for many Americans. In 2011, it was said the 25.8 million people have diabetes.
The rest of this will go from a type one diabetes stand point, if you want to know more about type two then I guess Google it, I'm sorry I do not know much about type two.
Diabetics often have to watch their blood sugar levels daily. Personally my blood sugar range is from 80-180 with a target of 120.
Diabetics also have to take daily injections of insulin. There are all kinds of types of insulin. There is rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, long-acting and pre-mixed insulin.
You can get insulin into you either through shots or an insulin pump.
Personally, I use an insulin pump. There are many different brands of insulin pumps. I use the animas one touch ping.
My diagnosis with diabetes story:
I got diagnosed with diabetes when I was 13 which was five years ago. I was just getting really sick and we didn't know why. We'd go back to the doctor and they'd try different things, but they still couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I was just very sick. I was sleeping a lot more than usual, I was going to the bathroom a lot, I was always thirsty and I was loosing a lot of weight. Finally the doctor decided to check my blood sugar which was over 700. I had to go to the hospital where I spent a week learning to deal with my diabetes.
I made this forum to basically just raise awareness towards diabetes. If you have any questions about diabetes do not be afraid to ask. If you have diabetes, then share your diagnosis story with me. If you have family or know someone with diabetes post about that. November is diabetes awareness month, it's a long ways away, but it's always good to be aware of diabetes. ^^