Diabetes and Our Community Resources

What is it?

Diabetes is the condition in which the body does not properly process food for use as energy. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugars to build up in your blood. This is why many people refer to diabetes as “sugar.” Diabetes can cause serious health complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

Types of diabetes:

Type 1

Type 1 diabetes, previously called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or juvenile onset diabetes, may account for 5 percent to 10 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Risk factors are less well defined for Type 1 diabetes than for Type 2 diabetes, but autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors are involved in the development of this type of diabetes.

Type 2

Type 2 diabetes was previously called non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes. Type 2 diabetes may account for about 90 percent to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.

Gestational

Gestational diabetes develops in 2 percent to 5 percent of all pregnancies but usually disappears when a pregnancy is over. Gestational diabetes occurs more frequently in African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, and people with a family history of diabetes than in other groups.

Who is most affected?

Many factors affect your risk for developing type II diabetes. Risk factors for Type 2 diabetes include older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, prior history of gestational diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, physical inactivity, and race/ethnicity. African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, and some Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are at particularly high risk for type 2 diabetes. Obesity is also associated with higher risk. Here in Allen County, 12% of adults have been diagnosed with diabetes. That number increases to 23% of all adults over the age of 65. In addition, of the adults in Allen County who have been diagnosed with diabetes; 91% are obese or overweight, 75% have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and 74% had been diagnosed with high blood pressure.

What resources are available locally?

The Lima Family YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program
345 S. Elizabeth St.
Lima OH 45801

419-303-3387

St Rita’s – Endocrine, Diabetes & Metabolism Center
770 W High St #450
Lima OH 45801

419-996-5240

Lima Memorial Health Systems – Endocrine, Diabetes & Metabolism Center
770 West High Street
Suite 300
Lima, OH 45801

419-996-5240

Health Partners of Western Ohio
Dr. Gene Wright Community Health Center
441 East 8th Street
Lima, OH 45804

419-221-3072

Where can I find more information about this condition?

American Diabetes Association – www.diabetes.org

Mayo Clinic – www.mayoclinic.org/diabetes

CDC – www.cdc.gov/diabetes