Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a condition of persistently high levels of blood sugar (glucose) due to either a lack of insulin or your cells not properly using insulin. Typically, when glucose in your blood increases, an organ called your pancreas is signaled to produce a hormone called insulin. Insulin signals to your cells throughout your body to absorb the glucose and burn it as energy. 

• Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease where one's immune system attacks the beta cells that produce insulin in the pancreas. Individuals with T1D are insulin-dependent, meaning they rely on insulin to survive. The condition affects roughly 1.8 million Americans (or 5% of diabetics) and is also called juvenile-onset diabetes, as it typically presents in children.

• Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a condition where one's cells stop responding to insulin in the same way due to chronically high levels of blood glucose. The clinical test for T2D, Hemoglobin A1c, measures the amount of glucose attached to one's red blood cells, providing an estimate of blood sugar levels in the past 3 months. An A1c result of 6.5 indicates T2D. 

• Prediabetes is considered the early warning stage, characterized by elevated blood sugar levels, or an A1c of 5.7 - 6.4. If left unmanaged, prediabetes can turn into diabetes. Currently, more than one-third of Americans have prediabetes.