Diabetes Specialist

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that causes problems with processing food for energy. Normally, when you eat food your body breaks it down into glucose and then releases it into your blood. Your pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that regulates the glucose.

If you suffer from diabetes, you have a problem with insulin. Either you don't make enough of it, or the insulin isn't working like it should to regulate glucose. This leads to a blood sugar buildup, which may eventually cause severe and possibly fatal health conditions like heart disease.

Although diabetes isn't curable at this time, it can be managed with the guidance and support of the team at Abilene Family Medical Associates.

How are Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes different?

Type 1 diabetes usually starts at birth or during childhood, and it's not preventable. In this kind of diabetes, your autoimmune system launches a self-attack, which stops your pancreas from producing insulin. Type 1 is rare, accounting for only 5% of diabetes cases today.

In Type 2 diabetes, you don't process insulin well, which means you can't maintain healthy glucose levels. Type 2 diabetes usually starts during adulthood, but can develop as early as the preteen years in some cases. This type of diabetes is usually preventable if you manage your risk factors.

Maintaining healthy weight, eating right, and consistent exercise can often prevent Type 2 diabetes. Heredity sometimes plays a role in Type 2 diabetes, but you can still take action to prevent it through healthy lifestyle choices. Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90% of diabetes today.

How is diabetes treated?

If you have Type 1 diabetes, your Abilene Family Medical Associates provider can handle all your general primary care needs and a specialist provides Type 1 diabetes-specific treatments. If you have Type 2 diabetes, or you're at a higher risk of developing it, your doctor can work with you to get healthy.

Your doctor monitors your diabetes through blood testing during your regularly scheduled wellness visits using the in-house lab. You may need to only make health changes like weight loss, exercise, and improved diet to control your Type 2 diabetes effectively.

If your Type 2 diabetes isn't well-controlled with lifestyle changes, your doctor may prescribe oral medication such as metformin. Your doctor might also suggest blood sugar checks at home.

To learn more about chronic care management if you have diabetes, schedule an appointment at Abilene Family Medical Associates online or by phone today.