Diabetes is a disease in which your body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that you need to convert sugar, starches, and other food into the energy you need each day. We do not know the causes of diabetes, however genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise may have a role.

There are 23.6 million children and adults in the United States, who have diabetes. While an estimated 17.9 million have been diagnosed, 5.7 million people are unaware that they have the disease. About twice as many people have pre-diabetes.

• Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when your blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diabetes diagnosis. Without intervention pre-diabetes can become diabetes.
• Type 1 diabetes results from your body's failure to produce insulin. Only 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.
• Type 2 diabetes results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.

For more information on these tools and many others to help you prevent diabetes, visit www.diabetes.org. To speak to a nutritionist or Diabetes Educator, call Park Clinic for an appointmet 406-222-0800.