Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) disease that affects how your body turns food into energy. The body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life.
Types of Diabetes
Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Approximately 96 million American adults, more than 1 in 3, have prediabetes. Of those with prediabetes, more than 80% don’t know they have it. Prediabetes puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake). This reaction stops your body from making insulin. Approximately 5-10% of the people who have diabetes have type 1. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes often develop quickly. It’s usually diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults. If you have type 1 diabetes, you’ll need to take insulin every day to survive. Currently, no one knows how to prevent type 1 diabetes.
With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels. About 90-95% of people with diabetes have type 2. It develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults (but more and more in children, teens, and young adults). You may not notice any symptoms, so it’s important to get your blood sugar tested if you’re at risk. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes, such as:
- Losing weight.
- Eating healthy food.
- Being active.
Gestational diabetes develops in pregnant women who have never had diabetes. If you have gestational diabetes, your baby could be at higher risk for health problems. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after your baby is born. However, it increases your risk for type 2 diabetes later in life. Your baby is more likely to have obesity as a child or teen and develop type 2 diabetes later in life.
During pregnancy, usually around the 24th week, many women develop gestational diabetes. A diagnosis of gestational diabetes doesn’t mean that you had diabetes before you conceived, or that you will have diabetes after giving birth. But it’s important to follow your doctor’s advice regarding blood glucose (blood sugar) levels while you’re planning your pregnancy, so you and your baby both remain healthy.
Services
CCCHD offers diabetes supplies at a low cost to the individual. We are unable to bill the individuals health coverage/insurance.
The supplies offered at a low cost are:
- Glucose Monitors
- Testing Strips
- Lancet Device
- Lancet Needles
For any questions, please call us at 937-390-5600.
CCCHD offers free blood sugar screenings from 8am-5pm Monday through Fridays, not including holidays that CCCHD is closed.
There are multiple types of blood sugar tests:
- Fasting Blood Sugar Test measures your blood sugar after an overnight fast (not eating).
- For the most accurate result, please avoid eating or drinking anything (except water) for 8 hours before your test.
- Random Blood Sugar Test measures your blood sugar at the time your tested. You can take this test at any time and don’t need to fast (not eat) first.
The procedure is free, and it serves as an effective way to detect high blood sugar early so that you can take steps to improve your health.
For more information on blood sugar tests and other diabetes test, please visit the CDC website.
For any questions, please call us at 937-390-5600.
Diabetes Support Group
The Clark Champaign Diabetes Association (CCDA) offers a support group for those individuals who want to get connected to a supportive community.
The CCDA Support group meets every 1st Wednesday of each month from 5:30-6:30pm at United Senior Services.
For more information on the next meeting, please click the picture to the right or follow the link below:
Am I at Risk for Diabetes?
The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles. Each type of diabetes has different sets of risk factors, for more information on risk factors, click the picture to the left or visit the CDC website.
To see if you are at at risk for diabetes, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has a quick online quiz located here: Risk Test.
Or to see if you are at risk for prediabetes, the ADA has a quick test that can be found here: Prediabetes Test.
Further Diabetes Resources
For some further diabetes information, please check out the resources below: