Diabetes | Womenshealth.gov

Diabetes is a disease in which blood sugar (glucose) levels in your body are too high. Diabetes can cause serious health problems, including heart attack or stroke, blindness, problems during pregnancy, and kidney failure. About 15 million women in the United States have diabetes, or about 1 in every 9 adult women.1

Diabetes is a disease caused by high levels of blood sugar (glucose) in your body. This can happen when your body does not make insulin or does not use insulin correctly.

Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas, an organ near your stomach. Insulin helps the glucose from food get into your body's cells for energy. If your body does not make enough insulin, or your body does not use the insulin correctly, the glucose stays and builds up in your blood.

Over time, this extra glucose can lead to prediabetes or diabetes. Diabetes puts you at risk for other serious and life-threatening health problems, such asheart disease, stroke, blindness, and kidney damage.

The three main types of diabetes are:

A risk factor is something that puts you at a higher risk for a disease compared to the average person.

Risk factors fortype 1 diabetesin women and girls include:

Risk factors fortype 2 diabetesin women and girls include:4

If you have any of these risk factors, talk to your doctor about ways to lower your risk for diabetes. You can also take theDiabetes Risk Testand talk about the results with your doctor.

Type 1 diabetesusually develops in children and young adults, but it can happen at any age.5 It is more common in non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks than in Hispanic populations.6 About 5% of people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.1If you have a parent or sibling with the disease you may be more likely to develop type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetesis more common in adults, especially in people who are 45 and older, have a family history of diabetes, or have overweight or obesity. About 9095% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.Type 2 diabetes is becoming more common in children and teens, which may be because more of them have overweight and obesity.7,8,9

Yes. It is more common for certain racial and ethnic groups to have diabetes. This affects women who are:

Learn more about risk factors for diabetes.

Diabetes affects women and men in almost equal numbers. However, diabetes affects women differently than men.

Compared with men with diabetes, women with diabetes have:12

Yes. The longer you have type 2 diabetes, the higher your risk for developing serious medical problems from diabetes. Also, if you smoke and have diabetes, you are even more likely to develop serious medical problems from diabetes, compared with people who have diabetes and do not smoke.14

The extra glucose in the blood that leads to diabetes can damage your nerves and blood vessels. Nerve damage from diabetes can lead to pain or a permanent loss of feeling in your hands, feet, and other parts of your body.15

Blood vessel damage from diabetes can also lead to:

Women with diabetes are also at higher risk for:

Researchers do not know the exact causes of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Researchers do know that inheriting certain genes from your family can raise your risk for developing diabetes. Obesity is also a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Smoking can also cause type 2 diabetes. And the more you smoke the higher your risk for type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems if you already have diabetes.16

Weight loss can help control type 2 diabetes so that you are healthier. Quitting smoking can also help you control your blood sugar levels. Being a healthy weight and not smoking can help all women be healthier.

But, obesity and smoking do not always cause diabetes. Some women who are overweight or obese or smoke never develop diabetes. Also, women who are a normal weight or only slightly overweight can develop diabetes if they have otherrisk factors, such as a family history of diabetes.

Type 1 diabetessymptoms are usually more severe and may develop suddenly.

Type 2 diabetesmay not cause any signs or symptoms at first. Symptoms can develop slowly over time. You may not notice them right away.

Common signs and symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes include:

Maybe. You should be tested for diabetes if you are between 40 and 70 years old and are overweight or obese. Your doctor may recommend testing earlier than age 40 if you also have otherrisk factors for diabetes. Also, talk to your doctor about diabetes testing if you havesigns or symptomsof diabetes. Your doctor will use a blood test to see if you have diabetes.

If the testing shows that your blood sugar levels are high, you can begin making healthy changes to your eating habits and getting more physical activity to help prevent diabetes.

Prediabetes means your blood sugar (glucose) level is higher than normal, but it is lower than the diabetes range. It also means you are at higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes andheart disease.

As many as 27 million American women have prediabetes.17 If you have prediabetes, you can make healthy changes, such as doing some type of physical activity on most days, to lower your risk of getting diabetes and return to normal blood sugar levels. Losing 7% of your body weight (or 14 pounds if you weigh 200 pounds) can lower your risk for type 2 diabetes by more than half. If you have prediabetes, get your blood glucose checked every year by a doctor or nurse.4

Diabetes treatment includes managing your blood sugar levels to control your symptoms. You can help control your blood sugar levels by eating healthy and getting regular physical activity.

With type 1 diabetes, you also will need to take insulinthrough shots or an insulin pump. Insulin cannot be taken as a pill.

Type 2 diabetes treatment also may include taking medicine to control your blood sugar.Over time, people with type 2 diabetes make less and less of their own insulin. This may mean that you will need to increase your medicines or start taking insulin shots to keep your diabetes in control.

Learn more about controlling diabetes at theNational Diabetes Education Programwebsite.

Researchers do not know how to prevent type 1 diabetes. Researchers are still looking for ways to prevent type 1 diabetes in women and girls by studying their close relatives who have diabetes.

Yes. Many studies, including the largeDiabetes Prevention Programstudy, have proven that you can prevent diabetes by losing weight. Weight loss through healthy eating and more physical activity improves the way your body uses insulin and glucose.

Learnhow to eat healthier and get more physical activity.

Yes. If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you can have a healthy pregnancy. If you have diabetes and you want to have a baby, you need to plan ahead,beforeyou get pregnant.

Talk to your doctor before you get pregnant. He or she can talk to you about steps you can take to keep your baby healthy. This may include a diabetes education program to help you better understand your diabetes and how to control it during pregnancy.

For more information about diabetes, call the OWH Helpline at 1-800-994-9662 or contact the following organizations:

This content is provided by the Office on Women's Health.

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Diabetes | Womenshealth.gov