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Know the warning signs of diabetes

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Diabetes is a serious disease --serious because of its harmful effects and because half the people who have it don't evne know it.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 16 million Americans have the disease. It can lead to blindness heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and amputations. In the extreme, it can even result in death. Every year nearly 170,000 Americans die from diabetes

People who suffer from diabetes either have an insensitivity to the body's insulin or are unable to produce enough insulin. Ordinarily, when we eat food, our body breaks it down into a sugar called glucose. Insulin helps glucose get into the body's cells, where it is used as energy. When the body is insensitive or not producing enough insulin, glucose cannot get into the cells. Consequently, it builds up in the blookstream, where, over time, it can damage the heart, kidneys, eyes, blood vesseIs and nerves.

The good news is that diabetes, while not curable, can be treated. With early diagnosis, many of its complications can be avoided. That's why it's so important to recognize diabetes' signs.
There are three types of diabetes:

• Type I usually affects children and young adults.
• Type 11 ordinarily affects adults over 45
• Gestational diabetes develops in women during pregnancy.

Type 11 diabetes is the most common. About 95 percent of people who suffer from diabetes have this form of the disease. Although you may have no symptoms at all, If you or your children have any of the following, you should consult your doctor:

• Extreme Thirst
• Occasioned bluely vision
• Frequent urination
• Unusual drowsiness
• Unexplained weight loss.

Diabetes can develop in anyone, but it is more common in Hispanics, African Americans and Native Americans. You are at risk if you:

• Are carrying 20 percent more weight than normal for your height and sex.
• Get little or no exercise in a usual day.
• Have a parent with diabetes
• Are a woman who has had a baby that weighed more then 9 pounds at birth.
• Are over 45.