North Dakota – The North Dakota Department of Health reports that the state’s total diabetes rate has climbed in recent years, rising from 8.2% in 2011 to 9.9% in 2020. Furthermore, despite its tiny size, this increase is alarming, thus it’s critical to be aware of the warning signs.
Type 1, Type 2, and gestational diabetes, which appears in pregnant women, are the three primary kinds of the disease. When the body’s immune system targets and decimates insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, type 1 diabetes results. It is inevitable and can affect people of various ages.
“It’s typically associated with family history or genetics.,” said HHS’s Diabetes and Prevention Program Coordinator, Brianna Monahan. “There’s very little lifestyle influence. It’s also completely insulin dependent, so anyone with Type 1 is dependent on insulin.”
Contrarily, Type 2 Diabetes occurs when the pancreas produces insulin but the cells do not react to it as they ought to. 90% to 95% of individuals with diabetes, according to the CDC, have Type 2.
“That’s the one that is more strongly associated with lifestyle as well as family history and genetics. And that can be managed through lifestyle, through oral medication, or sometimes also through insulin,” said Monahan.
Everyone can get diabetes, and both in children and adults, there are certain symptoms to watch out for. For adults, this may manifest as severe thirst and an urge to urinate frequently, or in Type 1 children, it may manifest as bedwetting. There are more signs to watch out for if those symptoms don’t concern you.
“People don’t always notice it, so then later they look like stomach flu,” stated Trinity Health Pediatrician, Dr. Diana Peterson. “They can have vomiting and abdominal pain, and they come into the ER and they’re DKA.”
For Type 2, the signs and symptoms of diabetes also vary.
“A lot of them are picked up asymptotic,” Dr. Peterson stated. “They’re being screened because they’re overweight, or they have physical signs. Acanthosis Nigricans just looks like dirt stuck around your neck. It can be in your armpits and some of the folds on your chest. So if we see that, a lot of times we’ll screen the kids for diabetes.”
Diabetes can cause major health problems or even death if it is not properly treated or managed. As a result, Monahan argues that calculating your risk of developing diabetes is crucial. She advises assembling a comprehensive care team, which should include your primary care physician, a qualified dietitian or nutritionist, a pharmacist, and a certified diabetes care specialist.
Additionally, the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services provides online assistance for managing diabetes.
