In
Now that you know what’s new and how things are laid out, it’s time to dive in. Turn to the first chapter, “Diabetes Facts,” to find out what diabetes is, who has it, and how it’s affecting people worldwide.
Part I
Diabetes 101
CHAPTER 1
Diabetes Facts
When you were first diagnosed with diabetes, your doctor probably sent you home with a lot of information. That’s a great place to start. Even if you’ve been living with diabetes for years, you may still have very basic questions about what diabetes is. Or who else has diabetes.
This chapter will work to answer some of your initial questions, helping you brush up on the facts about diabetes. In the following chapters we’ll discuss more about how diabetes works and, most importantly, how it affects you.
What Is Diabetes?
In a nutshell, diabetes is a disorder in which the body does not make or correctly use insulin. But what is insulin? Insulin is a hormone. Your body needs insulin to help turn the food you eat into the energy and energy reserves that your body needs to function properly. When your insulin is out of balance, your whole body is out of balance.
Sounds simple enough, right? Well, not everyone with diabetes has the same type of problem using insulin. Some people don’t make any insulin at all; other people make too little insulin or don’t use that insulin efficiently.
This is why diabetes is broken down into different types, with the most common forms being type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Some women also get diabetes when they become pregnant; this is called gestational diabetes. Most cases of diabetes fall within these three types, which will be explained in more detail in chapters 3, 4, and 5.
There are some other types of diabetes, which can be caused by genetic defects, diseases such as cystic fibrosis, organ transplantation, or AIDS treatment. Still other people don’t fit neatly into the categories of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. In fact, there are more than ten different forms of diabetes!
Who Has Diabetes?
Although you may feel like you’re the only one dealing with diabetes—you’re definitely not alone. Millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of people worldwide have diabetes. In the United States, eight out of every 100 people aged 20 years or older have diabetes. That works out to nearly 26 million adults and children with diabetes, according to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So, it’s very likely that you know someone else with diabetes. It could be someone at your school or in your yoga class or in your apartment building. Diabetes affects children and adults, people who are fit or out-of-shape, and people of all races and ethnicities.
However, not everyone with diabetes is wearing a big neon sign screaming: “I have diabetes too!” Each person with diabetes has different symptoms and treatments. The people you know with diabetes are probably managing it in personal and discreet ways.
Famous People with Diabetes
However, some people are quite outspoken about their diabetes—celebrities. There are hundreds of famous people with diabetes, many juggling the demands of entertainment, sports, or politics while keeping on top of a serious disorder.
Famous People with Diabetes
• Halle Berry, actress
• Nicole Johnson, Miss America 1999
• Jay Cutler, NFL quarterback
• Aretha Franklin, singer
• Larry King, talk show host
• Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas
• Nick Jonas, singer
• Gary Hall, Jr., Olympic gold medalist swimmer
• Chris Matthews, news anchor
• Billie Jean King, tennis player
• Anne Rice, author
• Neil Young, singer
• Elizabeth Taylor, actress
• B.B. King, musician
• Bret Michaels, singer
It may sound corny, but this list makes you realize how much you can accomplish with diabetes. It’s nice to know that diabetes won’t keep you from winning a gold medal in the Olympics like Gary Hall or headlining an ’80s glam rock band like Bret Michaels.
Undiagnosed Diabetes
Nearly 26 million people have diabetes in the United States. Yet, there are only 18.8 million diagnosed cases of diabetes. That means that nearly one-quarter of the people with diabetes do not even know they have diabetes. How could all these people go undiagnosed? Unlike many diseases, diabetes doesn’t always have obvious symptoms in the beginning.
Over 7 million people have diabetes but don’t know it. They are walking around with signs and perhaps mild symptoms of diabetes, but they have not been to a health care provider for the proper tests and diagnosis because few realize that anything is wrong.
Most undiagnosed people have type 2 diabetes. In contrast, few cases of type 1 diabetes go undetected for long. As you’ll see in later chapters, the symptoms of type 1 diabetes are so severe that the person goes to a doctor for help.
Rise in Diabetes
You may have heard that more and more people are getting diabetes. Unfortunately, this is absolutely true. The number of people with diabetes in the United States increased by 3 million over two years, according to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, children are increasingly getting type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Certain ethnic groups are also seeing an increase in diabetes. Native Americans have the highest rate of diabetes at 16.1%, followed by African Americans at 12.6% and Hispanics at 11.8%. In contrast, 8.4% of Asian Americans and 7.1% of whites have diabetes in the United States.
Diabetes More Common in Elderly People
Older people are still affected most by diabetes. For example, 26.9% of people aged 65 years and older have diabetes, as opposed to 11.3% of people aged 20 years and older.
A Global Epidemic
The
