What’s Your Risk?

Could you have diabetes? Find out your risk

Diabetes is a health problem that affects people of all ages. More than 11 percent of Americans have diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, someone is diagnosed with diabetes every 23 seconds.

You could be at risk for diabetes

Even though diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S., experts say that many people don’t know they can often prevent Type 2 diabetes. Knowing your risk can help you make better decisions and decrease your chance of getting diabetes.

You may be at risk for Type 2 diabetes if:

• You are overweight
• You smoke
• You have high blood pressure
• You are not active
• You have high cholesterol
• You eat unhealthy food

You may have diabetes and not know it

About 660,000 people in Texas don’t know they have diabetes and 37 percent of Texans have prediabetes. Diabetes is a very serious disease when it’s not controlled, causing more deaths than cancer and AIDS combined.

You can have high blood sugar and not feel anything. Harmful effects include damage to eyes, feet, teeth and gums. Diabetes also doubles your risk of having a heart attack. When your blood sugar is very high (above 200 mg/dl), you may have some of these signs and symptoms:

• Feeling very thirsty
• Feeling very hungry
• Urinating (peeing) a lot
• Fatigue (being very tired)
• Blurry vision
• Losing weight without trying

What’s your risk?

Take the diabetes self-assessment test by going to www.ParklandDiabetes.com/RiskTest to find out if you are at risk for diabetes.

If you have symptoms or other risk factors for diabetes, it’s important to get tested. When you catch diabetes early, you can start treatment to avoid nerve damage, heart trouble and other serious health problems. Talk to your healthcare provider about steps you can take to prevent diabetes.

For more information about living healthy with diabetes, visit www.ParklandDiabetes.com.