World Diabetes Day - November 14

  Understand diabetes: know the warning signs

The warning signs* of diabetes include:

• Frequent urination
• Excessive thirst
• Increased hunger
• Weight loss
• Tiredness
• Lack of interest and concentration
• Vomiting and stomach pain (often mistaken as the flu)
• A tingling sensation or numbness in the hands or feet
• Blurred vision
• Frequent infections
• Slow-healing wounds

*These can be mild or absent in people with type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes Risk Factors

There are many risk factors for type 2 diabetes. They include:

• Obesity and overweight
• Lack of exercise
• Previously identified glucose intolerance
• Unhealthy diet
• Increased age
• High blood pressure and high cholesterol
• A family history of diabetes
• A history of gestational diabetes
• Ethnicity - higher rates of diabetes have been reported in Asians, Hispanics, Indigenous peoples (USA, Canada, Australia) and African Americans.

If you think you are at risk of type 2 diabetes, get tested!

Diabetes prevention

At present, type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented. The environmental triggers that are thought to generate the process that results in the destruction of the body’s insulin-producing cells are still under investigation. Type 2 diabetes, however, can be prevented in many cases by maintaining a healthy weight and being physically active.

If you show these signs, seek medical attention!