Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Blood glucose is the 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. Overtime, having too much glucose in the blood can cause health problems. Although diabetes has no cure yet, you can take steps to manage your diabetes and stay healthy. Sometimes, people call diabetes "a touch of sugar" or "borderline diabetes." These terms suggest that someone doesn't really have diabetes or that they have a less serious case, but every case of diabetes is serious. About 17 million Americans are believed to have diabetes, and one-third of those patients don't even know they have it. Diabetes can cause serious health complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes is the 6th leading cause of death in the US, and most diabetics develop heart disease. In fact, just having diabetes carries the same risk of having a heart attack as someone who has already had such an event. Therefore, it is very important for patients who have diabetes to have a physician that closely monitors and treats their cholesterol levels as well as their blood pressure. Additionally, any use of tobacco products multiplies the risks and should be stopped.
