November is National Diabetes Month, and to raise awareness about the disease Kelly Dawes from the Pennyrile District Health Department appeared on WHOP and shared the importance of getting ahead of Diabetes by getting tested and how the disease can develop.
Along with being a registered nurse Dawes serves as the health department’s Certified Diabetes and Education Specialist.
Diabetes is a disease where one’s body does not produce enough insulin which is responsible for regulating blood sugar. Dawes says Diabetes can manifest in multiple ways such as frequent thirst and urination as well as blurry vision, drowsiness and more.
However, Dawes says some Diabetes symptoms could also just point to low blood sugar, therefore testing is important. If Diabetes symptoms are ignored, Dawes says they can manifest into worse health conditions such as blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and more.
Dawes says Type 2 Diabetes typically develops hereditarily while Type 1 Diabetes also shows some hereditary developments, but is typically the result of an autoimmune reaction. Dawes says despite Diabetes occurring hereditarily one’s lifestyle also plays a role in the disease’s development.
According to the Pennyrile Health District Department’s website, exercise, having a well-balance diet and glucose monitoring are crucial to managing Diabetes, or mitigating high blood pressure or Prediabetes from developing into Type 2 Diabetes.
More information and resources for diabetes symptoms, monitoring and prevention are available at pennyrilehealth.org/diabetes.