About 20.8 million people in the US have diabetes. The American Diabetes Association states that 14.6 million individuals have been diagnosed with diabetes, but about 6.2 million currently are undiagnosed. Diabetes is a serious disease, which if not controlled, can be life threatening.Take this true/false quiz with eight questions to see how much you know about diabetes. After each question, you will find out if your answer is correct or incorrect, and information about health risks and healthy choices will be provided.

Diabetes is a single disease resulting in a problem with production of insulin (a hormone manufactured by the pancreas, which helps glucose leave the blood and enter the muscles and other tissues of the body).

Actually, diabetes is a group of diseases defined by high levels of blood glucose (a sugar in our blood and a source of energy for our bodies) resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. Diabetes, which usually is caused by a metabolic disorder, also may result from a genetic syndrome, medications, malnutrition, infections, viruses, or other illnesses.

Recently, health experts have cautioned about a health concern called prediabetes.

As health experts learn more about diabetes, they recognize that some individuals have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not high enough to be defined as diabetes. This condition, called prediabetes, identifies persons who are at increased risk of developing diabetes. About 41 million people in the US have prediabetes. Prediabetes may be determined by using tests to measure blood sugar levels. Elevated glucose levels mean you are likely to develop diabetes, and may already be experiencing the adverse health effects of this serious condition.

Type 1 diabetes only affects children.

Type 1 diabetes usually affects children and young adults, although the disease can occur at any age. It accounts for 5 percent to 10 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is most often caused when the body’s immune system destroys, or attempts to destroy, the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin (the only place in the body that makes the hormone that regulates blood glucose). Risk factors include autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors.

The most common type of diabetes, type 2 diabetes, accounts for nearly 95 percent of the disease and usually begins as insulin resistance (the body does not use insulin properly).

Indeed, type 2 diabetes accounts for the majority of people with diabetes today. It usually begins as insulin resistance (the body does not use insulin properly). Type 2 diabetes is linked with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, prior history of gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy), impaired glucose tolerance, physical inactivity, and race or ethnicity. Those groups at higher risk of type 2 diabetes include: African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, and some Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islanders.

Gestational diabetes, which may occur in a woman during pregnancy, could cause a newborn to be considerably larger than a normal newborn.

A physician will carefully monitor and control blood sugar levels just as soon as the diagnosis of gestational diabetes is made. Fortunately, women with gestational diabetes usually do not have elevated blood sugar levels until the 24th week of pregnancy, after the critical first trimester. However, this condition may cause a fetus to grow quite a bit larger than normal. In addition, gestational diabetes is considered a risk factor for type 2 diabetes for these women after pregnancy.

People with diabetes do not have to worry about other diseases being linked to their condition.

In reality, heart and vascular disease often go hand-in-hand with diabetes. The American Diabetes Association reports that heart disease is two to four times more common in people with diabetes. In addition, these individuals have an earlier occurrence of heart disease and it is more often fatal. Diabetes can negatively affect cholesterol levels and it may contribute to high blood pressure.

Symptoms of diabetes include excessive thirst, frequent urination, and weight loss.

Symptoms of diabetes include unusual weight loss and increased fatigue as well as frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, irritability, and blurry vision. If type 1 diabetes is not diagnosed and treated with insulin, a person can lapse into a life-threatening diabetic coma, also known as diabetic ketoacidosis. The symptoms of type 2 diabetes develop gradually. Symptoms also may include frequent infections and slow healing of wounds or sores. Some people have no symptoms.

A blood test measuring blood glucose levels (determines level of sugar in the blood) can determine whether a person has prediabetes or diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association recommends that a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) be conducted to diagnose prediabetes or diabetes. With a FPG test, a fasting (withholding food and liquid for 8-10 hours) blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dL signals prediabetes. A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dL or higher may have diabetes.

You answered out of 8 questions correctly.

• Know your ABC numbers:
  • A1C (a measure of the average blood glucose over the past 3 months; should be 7 or less)
  • Blood pressure (should be 120/80 or less)
  • Cholesterol (LDL - low density lipoprotein or bad cholesterol - should be 100 mg/dLor less).
    
    
• Many people with type 2 diabetes can control their blood glucose by following a careful diet and exercise program, losing excess weight, and taking an oral medication.
  
  
• Consult your physician soon to determine if you have prediabetes or diabetes, and to determine whether or not you may be able to address this through diet, exercise, or medical intervention. It is important to begin to consider your overall health status and take steps towards achieving a healthy you.