Diabetes and Your Health

As you’ve probably heard in the news more and more Americans are at risk for Diabetes. Here’s the Data from the 2007 National Diabetes Fact Sheet
Total prevalence of diabetes:
Under 20 years of age;

* 186,300, or 0.22% of all people in this age group have diabetes
* About 1 in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents has type 1 diabetes
* About 2 million adolescents aged 12-19 have pre-diabetes


Age 20 years or older:

* 23.5 million, or 10.7% of all people in this age group have diabetes

Age 60 years or older:

* 12.2 million, or 23.1% of all people in this age group have diabetes

Men:

* 12.0 million, or 11.2% of all men aged 20 years or older have diabetes

Women:

* 11.5 million, or 10.2% of all women aged 20 years or older have diabetes

Are you aware that diabetes is the #1 growing medical problem in North America? An estimated 23.6 million people are afflicted by this disease and worse yet over half do not know they are afflicted!

Here are some warning signs of diabetes so you can keep a look out:

* Frequent trips to the bathroom - when you have too much glucose in your blood urination becomes much more frequent. If your insulin levels are insufficient or nonexistent, kidneys can’t filter glucose back to the blood. In response they try to dilute the glucose by drawing extra water from your blood. This keeps you running to the bathroom
* Unquenchable thirst - with your kidneys drawing the water out of your blood stream, you can become dehydrated. This is conjunction with frequent urination means you should be check out for diabetes.
* Weight loss - if you're not trying to lose weight and eating regularly, but you still are... This could be diabetes. This is because the pancreas stops producing insulin, and this may cause a viral attack… or our autoimmune response makes the body destroy the insulin producing cells. Your body then looks for an energy source since the cells aren't getting sufficient glucose. So you break down fat and muscle for the needed fuel.
* Weakness and fatigue - your cells use glucose to produce energy. Insulin is supposed to help transfer the glucose into the cells. When the glucose is not absorbed your cells lack the required energy, making you sluggish and sleepy.
* Tingling in your hands, legs or feet- this is called neuropathy. This happens because high levels of glucose in the blood can damage the nervous system, causing the tingling sensation.

Remember, if you have these symptoms get checked out as soon as possible.
Another side effect of diabetes is increased oral health problems. On top of being tired and having to go to the bathroom constantly, you stand a much greater risk of periodontal (gum) disease and gum recession. Not to mention tooth loss!

You can take care of diabetes, you can hide missing teeth. But you cannot hide the pain and discomfort cause by improper health of any sort, including your mouth. Remember to take proper care and have regular dentist appointments to avoid this problem.