Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes is a condition in which your body either resists the effects of insulin — a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your cells — or doesn't produce enough insulin to maintain a normal glucose level.

More common in adults, type 2 diabetes increasingly affects children as childhood obesity increases. There's no cure for type 2 diabetes, but you may be able to manage the condition by eating well, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight. If diet and exercise aren't enough to manage your blood sugar well, you also may need diabetes medications or insulin therapy.


Manage your Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes Education Program

Diabetes Self-Management Education Program (DSME)

When you have diabetes, it's especially important to stay healthy, although sometimes it isn't easy. You don't have to do it alone, though. When you attend a Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) program, a diabetes educator will help you find solutions to staying healthy that fit into your lifestyle. With a healthcare provider referral, diabetes education is covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most insurance plans.


Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes Prevention Program

Prediabetes is a condition characterized by blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Prediabetes is treatable, but only about 10 percent of people who have it are aware that they do. Left untreated, up to one-third of people with prediabetes will progress to diabetes within five years.

How do I know if I'm at high-risk for prediabetes?

Answer the questions below to find out your risk.  For each "YES" answer add the number of points shown.  All "No" answers are 0 points.

Prediabetes

If your score is 9 or higher, you may be at risk for prediabetes or diabetes, and may qualify for DPP.

Diabetes Prevention Program

An Idaho Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) can help you take charge of your health to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.  DPP classes meet once a week for 16 weeks, and then once a month for eight months to maintain healthy lifestyle changes.  If you have prediabetes, enrolling in DPP can help you prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.

In order to qualify for the DPP, participants must:

  • Be overweight BMI greater than or equal to 24; greater than or equal to 22 if Asian.
  • Have established risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes; or
  • Have been diagnosed with prediabetes within the past year or previously diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

Public Health - Idaho North Central District
215 10th Street
Lewiston, ID 83501

Phone: (208) 799-3100
Fax: (208) 799-0349

Idaho Careline: 211

EPI ISSUES: 1-800-632-8000
For medical emergencies dial: 911.

Disclaimer

All information is general in nature and is not intended to be used as a substitute for appropriate professional advice.

For more information please call (208) 799-3100 or Idaho Careline: 211.

Idaho Public Health

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