Do you: Have high blood pressure? Get less than 30 minutes of physical activity a day? Have a close relative with diabetes?
Have you: Had gestational diabetes? Given birth to a baby weighing over 9 pounds?
Even one of these risk factors raises your chances of being diagnosed with type II diabetes. In the United States alone, diabetes has an economic impact of over $98 billion per year, and is the sixth leading cause of death by disease. Type II is reaching epidemic proportions all over the world, following in the wake of obesity and an increasingly sedentary style of living. Although once thought to be a form of diabetes that could only occur in adults, it is even on the rise among children.
You could have type II diabetes for years without even knowing it. (My husband's diabetes was diagnosed when he went in for bloodwork before having minor surgery - he attributed his reading of 250 to having eaten three bowls of Capn' Crunch cereal for a before bed snack! He was right, in a way - years of those sort of eating habits tend to take their toll.) Type II often has no symptoms. It's possible that up to a third of people with type II diabetes are unaware of it.
However, you may notice some warning signs: frequent infections and injuries that won't heal, numbness or tingling in your extremities, blurred vision, and any of the symptoms generally associated with type I diabetes (fatigue, unexplained weight loss, very strong hunger or thirst, frequent urination, irritability).
If you or someone you care for is concerned about type II diabetes, it may be a good idea to ask your doctor or other health care provider about getting tested. Why would you want to know? Well, the sooner you are diagnosed, the sooner you can start getting your blood glucose levels under control - which lessens your risk for serious complications such as blindness, nerve damage, and kidney disease. And if you find that you don't have type II diabetes, you have an opportunity to talk with your health care provider about diet, exercise, and other ways to lower your risk for the disease.
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