Information on diabetes, the types and what you can do to reduce your risk.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a lifelong and serious condition that causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high.
It can happen when:
your body doesn't produce enough insulin (a hormone produced in the Pancreas
the insulin it produces isn't effective or
your body can't produce any insulin at all.
Types of diabetes
There are 2 main types of diabetes:
Type 1 - where the pancreas doesn't produce any insulin and is not related to lifestyle
Type 2 - where the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin or the body's cells don't react to insulin (often associated with obesity, tends to be diagnosed in older people and is far more common than type 1 diabetes)
Signs and symptoms
Many people have type 2 diabetes without realising. This is because symptoms do not necessarily make you feel unwell.
Undiagnosed and untreated diabetes can have serious long-term health implications, including cardiovascular disease, blindness, foot ulcers, kidney disease and lower limb amputation.
The good news is that type 2 diabetes is often preventable with simple lifestyle changes and there's lots of support that can help you.
Healthier You is a type 2 diabetes prevention programme that helps residents reduce their risk of developing the condition.
You can also get free type 2 diabetes prevention support as part of a local group or through an online app - visit www.preventing-diabetes.co.uk or call 0333 577 3010 for more information.
If you're at risk of type 2 diabetes, you should also:
If you already have type 2 diabetes, it may be possible to control your symptoms by making these changes. This will also reduce your risk of developing complications.
