Welcome to The Medical Report Podcast where we bring health to your ears. This podcast is brought to you by our sponsors IntervalCare Medical Services, New Life Rehab, Graceful Hands Rehab, and Bantucola. Our podcast hopes to help the community learn more about health but we do have a disclaimer that all medical advice shared here is not an adequate means to diagnose or treat you. We recommend that you seek medical attention from your healthcare provider if you want more guidance on your health. 

Today our topic is about Diabetes. More than 34 million people in the United States have diabetes, and 1 in 5 of them don't know they have it. More than 88 million US adults (which is over a third of the population) have pre-diabetes, and more than 84% of them don't know they have it. Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. So, diabetes can be classified as Type 1, Type 2, or gestational. 

The CDC, approximates that of those with diabetes, nearly 1.6 million Americans have type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic illness characterized by the body’s inability to produce insulin due to the autoimmune destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas. Typically, the onset of Type 1 diabetes occurs in children but it can also start in adulthood. It is diagnosed by a medical professional after obtaining a fasting glucose test and/or a glucose tolerance test. High risk patients can be screened for anti-islet antibodies before 10yrs old and again in adolescence to ensure they haven’t developed the type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Type 1 is treated with lifelong insulin therapy.

In type 2 diabetes, there is a combination of the body resisting insulin action, inadequate insulin secretion, and excessive or inappropriate glucagon secretion that causes a continued high glucose state in the body. You should be screened for diabetes at age 45 if you have no risk factors. However if you have a sustained BP >135/80 or are overweight with either a 1st degree relative with DM2, elevated BP, or elevated lipid levels you should be screened.  

Gestational diabetes is present during pregnancy and can be an indicator for increased risk of type 2 diabetes later in life. 

Long-term effects of diabetes can affect the vasculature that affects your organs especially your eyes and kidneys and heart. Now that we have a better understanding of diabetes let’s dig in.