Diabetes Education Center
The Diabetes Education Center provides education, self-management training and nutritional assistance to people with diabetes. Our staff includes a nurse and dietitian who are certified diabetes educators. Our clients and their families not only learn about diabetes,but they also learn to make the lifestyle changes necessary to improve their health and quality of life–now and for the future.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that affects your body's ability to produce and use insulin. Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin allows glucose (sugar) from the food we eat to get into the cells of our body, where it is used for energy. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make enough insulin, or it can't use the insulin it produces very well. Glucose builds up in the blood.
Type 1 diabetes usually appears in children or young adults, while type 2 diabetes usually appears after age 40. However, children who are overweight are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
Another type of diabetes, gestational diabetes, appears during pregnancy. Women who develop gestational diabetes are at greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life.
What are the warning signs of diabetes?
Unfortunately, many people with undiagnosed diabetes have no warning signs at all. Extreme thirst, frequent urination, numb/tingling feet, blurry vision, fatigue, weight loss and sores that don't heal are all signs of diabetes. Don't wait for warning signs if you are at risk of developing diabetes!
Who is at risk?
People with a family history of diabetes, people who are overweight and over age 40, people who are not very active, and women who have had a baby weighing over nice pounds are at the highest risk. People of African-American, Hispanic/Latino or Asian-American/Pacific Islander ancestry are also at high risk of developing diabetes.
For more information about the diabetes education services, call (601) 776-6925, ext. 2177.
