Diabetes kills approximately 90,000 women each year, about twice the number that succumbs to breast cancer. Diabetes has gone by a number of different names, so let's sort out the nomenclature. Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, as it was called, is usually diagnosed in young people. In the past, it was also called juvenile diabetes. Today, it's called type 1 diabetes.

In people with type 1 diabetes, the body vir¬tually stops producing insulin, a hormone that regulates glucose (blood sugar), the main sugar that results from digesting food. People with type 1 diabetes have to monitor their diet and exercise. Drugs to treat type 1 diabetes are in development but for now, people with this disease must inject insulin daily. Type 1 diabetes accounts for only 5 percent to 10 percent of diabetes and is not on the rise.

Type 2 diabetes, however, is increasing, and it is the kind of dia¬betes we are going to concentrate on. Type 2 diabetes was also called noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Anyone can get type 2 diabetes, but it typically affects older people, which is why it used to be labeled adult-onset diabetes. If you have type 2 diabetes, your body still produces insulin, often a lot of it, but your cells are resistant to it. Consequently, glucose doesn't enter your cells as it should (where it is used for energy). Instead, it remains circulating in your blood.

As type 2 diabetes worsens, the pancreas becomes unable to secrete an adequate amount of insulin. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to kidney disease and failure, eye disease and blindness, circulatory problems (which can result in amputation of the legs or feet), heart disease and stroke. Pre¬menopausal women's lower risk of heart disease is nullified by diabetes. Women with diabetes have a greater risk for both heart disease and stroke than do diabetic men. And diabetic women have a poorer prognosis after a heart attack than do men with diabetes.

Diabetes Symptoms

These symptoms are commonly associated with type 1 dia¬betes. People with type 2 diabetes may have abnormal blood sugar for years without developing any symptoms.

♦  Frequent urination
♦  Unusual thirst
♦  Extreme hunger
♦  Unusual weight loss
♦. Extreme fatigue
♦  Irritability
♦  Frequent or recurring infections
♦  Blurred vision
♦  Cuts and bruises that are slow to heal
♦  Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet

If you experience any of these symptoms, consult your doctor. He or she may order diagnostic tests that measure the amount of sugar in your blood after an all-night fast. If this level is too high, you may be advised to take a glucose tolerance test, which mea¬sures blood glucose levels over a period of several hours.

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