Diabetes Over a

Lifespan
By: Shannon Brown
What is Diabetes? How does it Affect a Person?
Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also
called blood sugar, is too high

Blood glucose is your main source of energy and comes from the
food you eat

● Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps glucose

from food get into your cells to be used for energy.

Over time, diabetes can damage blood vessels in the heart, eyes,
and kidneys and nerves

● People with diabetes have a higher risk of health problems

including heart attack, stroke and kidney failure
● Diabetes can cause permanent vision loss by damaging
blood vessels in the eyes
 Different Types of General Diabetes
Type 1

● The pancreas does not make insulin,

because the body's immune system
attacks the islet cells in the pancreas
that make insulin
● Cannot be prevented
● Tends to develop at a young age

Type 2
● The pancreas makes less insulin than
used to, and your body becomes
resistant to insulin
● Affected by lifestyle changes
● Tends to develop at an older age
 What is Prediabetes?
Most older Americans have prediabetes, which means their glucose levels are
higher than normal but not high enough to be called diabetes. People with
prediabetes have a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes, having a heart
attack, or stroke.

If you have prediabetes, there are things you can do to prevent or delay getting
type 2 diabetes like losing weight, healthy eating, being physically active, quitting
smoking and keeping up with glucose testing.
First Signs of Diabetes for Type 2 Patients
● Urinate Frequently
● Extreme Dehydration
● Lose weight without trying
● Extreme Hunger
● Blurry vision
● Numb or tingling hands or feet
● Exhaustion
● Have very dry skin
 Effects on Babies During Pregnancy
● Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that can develop
during pregnancy in women who don’t already have
diabetes.
● Gestational diabetes occurs when the body can not make
enough insulin during pregnancy. During pregnancy, your
body makes more hormones and goes through other
changes, such as weight gain.
○ These changes cause your body’s cells to use insulin
less effectively and increases the body’s need for
insulin.
If you have gestational diabetes, your baby is at higher risk of:
● Being very large (9 pounds or more), which can make
delivery more difficult
● Being born early
● Having low blood sugar
● Developing type 2 diabetes later in life
 Effects on Babies and Youth
● Type 1 diabetes in children is a condition in which your child's body no longer produces an
important hormone of insulin. The child needs insulin to survive, so the missing insulin needs
to be replaced with injections or with an insulin pump.
○ Type 1 diabetes in children used to be known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent
diabetes.
● The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in children can be overwhelming, especially in the beginning.
Children must learn how to give injections, count carbohydrates and monitor blood sugar.
● There's no cure for type 1 diabetes in children, but it can be managed. Advances in blood sugar
monitoring and insulin delivery have improved blood sugar management and quality of life for
children with type 1 diabetes.
 Effects on Adults
● The number of people with diabetes rose from 108
million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. Prevalence
has been rising more rapidly in low- and
middle-income countries than in high-income
countries.
● Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney
failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb
amputation.
● Between 2000 and 2019, there was a 3% increase
in diabetes mortality rates by age.
● Type 2 diabetes is likely to occur in midlife adults.
Effects on Elders
● Older adults are at high risk for the
development of type 2 diabetes due to the
combined effects of increasing insulin
resistance and impaired pancreatic islet
function with aging.
● Age-related insulin resistance appears to be
primarily associated with adiposity,
sarcopenia, and physical inactivity, which
may partially explain the disproportionate
success of the intensive lifestyle
intervention in older participants
● In 2019, diabetes and kidney disease due to
diabetes caused an estimated 2 million
deaths.
Lifestyle Changes for Diabetes Patients
● Talk to your doctor about an exercise plan
○ Keep an exercise schedule
● Know your numbers and what the numbers should
range
● Check your blood sugar level consistently
● Stay hydrated
● Eat Healthy
● Limit stress
● Quit smoking
● Get 7 - 9 hours of sleep each night
● Limit alcohol
● Adjust your diabetes treatment plan as needed
 References
● https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5865481/
● https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-1-diabetes-in-children/sy
mptoms-causes/syc-20355306#:~:text=Diabetes%20increases%20your%20child'
s%20risk,that%20nourish%20your%20child's%20nerves.
● https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/diabetes-l
ong-term-effects
● https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/diabetes.html
● https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/gestational.html
● https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/diabetes-older-people
● Invitation to the Lifespan by Kathleen Stassen Berger