Diabetes

Diabetes Signs and Risk Factors

Although researchers don't fully understand why some people get diabetes and others don't, it is clear that certain factors increase your risk.

You are at risk for having diabetes if:

• Your mother, father, sister, or brother has diabetes;
• You have high blood pressure (at or above 130/80);
• You have a history of diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) or gave birth to a  baby weighing more than nine pounds at birth;
• You are overweight or obese;
• You are inactive or have a sedentary lifestyle; or
• You are older than 45 years of age.

If you have one or more of these risk factors, even if you are experiencing no symptoms, your doctor may want to test you for diabetes.  It is particularly important to pay attention to the signs and symptoms of diabetes and its risk factors.

Some of the signs of diabetes type 1 and type 2 are:

• being very thirsty
• urinating often
• feeling very hungry or tired
• losing or gaining weight without trying
• having sores that heal slowly
• having dry, itchy skin
• losing the feeling in your feet or having tingling in your feet
• having blurry eyesight