Idaho CareLine
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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.
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.
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.
Take a look at the questions below. If you score 5 or higher, you are at increased risk for having prediabetes and are at high risk for type 2 diabetes. Talk to your doctor to see if additional testing is needed, and consider joining our program.
If you have received your blood test results and your hemoglobin A1c is between 5.7% and 6.4%, you have prediabetes. A result of 6.5% or higher indicated type 2 diabetes.
If your score is 5 or higher, you may be at risk for prediabetes or diabetes, and may qualify for DPP.
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: