Diabetes Awareness

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Diabetes is a disease of energy regulation in which the body doesn’t make enough of a hormone called insulin.

Our main source of energy is glucose, which we get from food. After eating a meal, the body uses the glucose it needs and stores the leftover for use in between meals.

Insulin is what tells the body to store glucose. This ensures that the supply of energy to the body and levels of blood glucose are kept steady. In diabetics, insulin levels are inadequate to keep blood sugar in check.

In the United States, diabetes affects an estimated 30 million people. There are two types: type 1 and type 2. There are medications that can help people with diabetes, which include injectable and non-injectable treatments.

Allan Arellano is type 1 diabetic. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin because their bodies don’t make enough naturally.

“I found out I had type 1 diabetes when I was four years old,” said Arellano.

“I take insulin shots every time before I’m going to eat or when my blood sugar is running high,” he said.

People with early diabetes, also called “prediabetes,” often don’t have any symptoms. One in three people in the U.S. has pre-diabetes. Most of those affected don’t know they have it because they feel fine.