Diabetes can be Prevented!

Adriana Delgadillo, MPH (c)Health EducatorUniversity of California, San Francisco

Copyright © 2009 The Regents of the University of California, all rights reserved See http://iha.ucsf.edu:16080/LiveWellBeWell/ for complete citation

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Today we are going to talk about:

What is diabetes? How does blood sugar work? What is type 2 diabetes? What are the symptoms? How diabetes affects the body? Who is at risk of getting diabetes? What is pre-diabetes? How can I prevent diabetes?

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= 1 million people

How many people have diabetes? 20.8 million people in the U.S. have diabetes 1/3 or the people who have diabetes don’t know it

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What is diabetes?

Diabetes means that your blood sugar (glucose) is too high

Your blood always has some sugar in it because the body needs sugar for energy

But too much sugar in the blood can cause damage to your health

Diabetes can be controlled but not cured

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How does sugar work in your body?

Step 1: The food you eat turns into

sugar in your stomach.

Step 2: Your blood carries the sugar

to your body cells. Stomach

Glucose

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Step 3:

The pancreas is in charge of releasing insulin.

Insulin helps sugar enter

body cells.

If your body doesn’t make enough insulin or the insulin doesn’t work the way it should, the sugar can’t go into the cells making your blood sugar go up.

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Type 2 Diabetes

The pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin

The insulin doesn’t work the way it should

90% of diabetes cases are type 2

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What are the symptoms?

Always tired Frequent urination Always thirsty Always hungry Blurred vision Tingling hands or feet Wounds that don’t heal Sudden weight loss

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Diabetes can damage…

Your heart

Your eyes

High blood sugar levels over time can affect blood flow

This can cause heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure

High blood sugar levels can damage the small blood vessels in the back of the eye

This can cause blurred vision and loss of vision

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Diabetes can damage…

Blood vessels within the kidney are affected

Over time, high blood sugar can damage nerves in the body

Loss of sensation, pain and burning sensation in feet

Your kidneys

Your nervous system

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Who is at risk for type 2 diabetes?

People who:

Are older than 45 Have a family member with diabetes Are Latino, African-American, Native-American o

Asian-American Had diabetes during pregnancy

Are overweight Have high cholesterol Have high blood pressure

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How do I know if I have diabetes?

By doing a fasting blood test

It can only be diagnosed by a doctor

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What is pre-diabetes? Blood glucose levels are

higher than normal but not

high enough to be diabetes

Occurs before people develop

type 2 diabetes

At this stage, you can delay

or prevent diabetes

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You can prevent diabetes!

Eating less fat Eating more vegetables & fruits

Eating more fiber

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You can prevent diabetes! Regular physical activity

Helps your body to use insulin better Helps maintain weight loss

Walking 30 minutes,

5 days a week, has been

shown to reduce the risk

of getting diabetes

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Take action today…

If you haven’t eaten in 8 hrs,

take a finger prick test

This will tell you if you are at risk

of getting diabetes

If you are at risk, you may be able to join the

Live Well, Be Well project

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To conclude…

Diabetes is a serious disease that can cause serious health problems

It can be prevented

Healthy eating and exercise can make the difference

Get tested today. Do it for you and your loved ones

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For more information about diabetes…

American Diabetes Association

1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383)

Monday - Friday, 8:30 AM - 8 PM (Eastern Standard Time)

www.diabetes.org

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Thank you!