WHAT IS DIABETES?

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes is not fully known, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles. No matter how long you have had diabetes, you can control your diabetes and live a long, active life. If you are at risk or have pre-diabetes, you can take small steps to prevent the disease.
Pre-diabetes is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but are not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. People with pre-diabetes are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes and for heart disease and stroke. Other names for pre-diabetes are impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose. At least 54 million people over age 20 have pre-diabetes. 
Go to about diabetes to learn about the types of diabetes, risk factors, symptoms, and treatment.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DIABETES

The National Diabetes information Clearinghouse website is a wealth of information on diabetes topics from A to Z, overview of diabetes, treatment, complications, statistics, clinical trails, guidelines, research reports and other resources.

SMALL STEPS, BIG REWARD

Small Steps: If you have pre-diabetes (higher than normal blood glucose levels but not yet diabetes), you only need to lose a modest amount of weight - for example, 10 to 15 pounds for a 200-pound person - to prevent type 2 diabetes. You can do it by building up to 30 minutes of physical activity a day 5 days a week and following a low-calorie, low-fat eating plan.

Big Rewards: Preventing type 2 diabetes means peace of mind and a healthier and longer life without serious complications such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, and amputations.

Consumer “GAME PLAN” Materials - These booklets give people at risk everything they need to get started on their weight loss program and to stick with it. In addition, there are specially tailored motivational tip sheets for older adults and for ethnically diverse audiences (in English, Spanish, and 15 Asian and Pacific Islander languages).

• Small Steps. Big Rewards. Your GAME PLAN to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes: 
  Information for Patients PDF Version of Booklet:
  GP_Booklet.pdf
• GAME PLAN Fat and Calorie Counter
  Download (PDF* 406k)
• GAME PLAN Food and Activity Tracker
  Download (PDF* 350k)

IMPORTANT DIABETES MESSAGES

• More Than 50 Ways to Prevent Diabetes (African Americans)
• It’s Not Too Late to Prevent Diabetes. Take Your First Step Today. (Older Adults)
• Get Real! You Don’t Have to Knock Out to Prevent Diabetes (General Audience)
• It’s Never Too Early to Prevent Diabetes. A Lifetime of Small Steps for a Healthy Family. (Women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus and their children)

DIABETES IN THE WORKPLACE

DiabetesAtWork.org

Take advantage of this easy-to-use website to assess the impact of diabetes in the workplace and get the tools to create and implement an education program to help your employees prevent and control diabetes.