Diabetes

Select a section:

Background on Diabetes

There are three main types of diabetes:

  • Type 1. A person with type 1 diabetes requires insulin injections to stay alive.
  • Type 2 occurs when the body does not produce enough or cannot utilize insulin properly. Some adults with type 2 diabetes may also require insulin.
  • Gestational diabetes is a form of glucose intolerance that is diagnosed in some women during pregnancy.

Diabetes can affect many parts of the body and can lead to serious complications such as blindness, kidney damage, loss of teeth, heart attack, stroke, and lower-limb amputation. Individuals with diabetes can reduce the occurrence of these and other diabetes complications by controlling their levels for blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids, and by receiving other preventive care practices in a timely manner.

Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have “pre-diabetes”—blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Recent research has shown that some long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, may already be occurring during pre-diabetes.

Increasing physical activity and maintaining a balanced eating pattern can help to prevent the development of diabetes or minimize the severity of diabetes. Specific intervention strategies, tools, and resources to address these risk factors and help individuals manage their diabetes to prevention complications are provided in the Diabetes Intervention MICA.  Other related Intervention MICAs are:

  • Physical Activity
  • Nutrition
  • Obesity
  • Tobacco

Several resources are available to provide more information regarding prevention and management of diabetes (e.g., educational materials/campaigns, provider training, self-management, integrated approaches to care, access to services and resources, etc):

Continue to Diabetes in Different Populations >>

Top of Page

printer-friendly Printer-friendly version