-What Can Happen if Diabetes Is Not Under Control?
Out-of-control blood sugar levels can lead to short-term problems like hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, or diabetic ketoacidosis. In the long run, not controlling diabetes can also damage the vessels that supply blood to important organs, like the heart, kidneys, eyes, and nerves. This means that heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, vision problems, and nerve problems can happen to people with diabetes.
-What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that affects how the body uses glucose. When you eat, glucose from the food gets into your bloodstream. Then, the pancreas makes a hormone called insulin that helps the glucose in the blood get into the body's cells, where it's used as fuel.
When people get diabetes, the glucose in their blood doesn't get into the cells as well as it should, so it stays in the blood instead. This makes blood sugar levels get too high and can lead to symptoms like getting very thirsty or peeing a lot.
Proper treatment of diabetes helps to control these symptoms. It also can help prevent long-term effects — like kidney, eye, nerve, or heart problems — that can happen in people who have high blood sugar levels for many years.
-Diabetes is a chronic condition that stems from the body's inability to sufficiently produce and/or properly use insulin which the body needs to use sugar as an energy source. Diabetes can lead to serious complications and premature death but those who have diabetes can take steps to control the disease and lower the risk of complications.
-Diabetes currently affects 246 million people worldwide and is expected to affect 380 million by 2025.¹ More than 2 million Canadians have diabetes. By the end of the decade, this number is expected to rise to 3