Diabetes Awareness and Education

Did you know that more than 29 million Americans have diabetes? Even more frightening, one in four of those individuals are unaware of their condition.

Diabetes is a complex disease that requires daily self-management – making healthy food choices, staying physically active, monitoring your blood sugar, and taking medications as prescribed. Healthy lifestyle adjustments for individuals with diabetes can also help non-diabetic people transform their lives and increase overall health and wellness while also helping prevent a variety of health conditions later in life!

What is diabetes?

There are three main types of diabetes:

• Type 1 diabetes – This is when your body does not make insulin to take the sugar (glucose) from the foods you eat and turn it into energy for your body. If you have type 1 diabetes, you need to take insulin every day to live.
• Type 2 diabetes – This is when your body does not make or use insulin well. You might need to take pills or insulin to help control your diabetes. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes.

Why is diabetes serious?

Diabetes can cause health problems such as heart attack or stroke, eye problems, nerve damage, kidney problems, foot problems, and teeth and gum problems. People with diabetes need to make healthy food choices, stay at a healthy weight, get physical every day, and take their medicines even when they feel good. It is a lot to do. It’s not an easy lifestyle for some, but it’s worth the benefits.

Diabetes and Your Feet

Foot problems most often happen when there is nerve damage, which is most often called neuropathy. This can cause tingling, pain, or weakness in the feet. It can also cause loss of feeling in the foot, so you could possibly injure it and not even know it. Poor blood flow or changes in the shape of your feet or toes may also appear. It is especially important for diabetes patients to take good care of their feet and see their doctor right away if you see any signs of foot problems.

If you are experiencing chronic foot pain or discomfort in your lower extremities, call our Montgomery office at 301-330-5666 and schedule an appointment with our board-certified podiatrist Dr. Jon M. Sherman or visit our website for more information. Please note that our office is currently open Monday, 10am-5:30pm, and Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am-5pm.