Ms. Aurora Cespedes
Registered Dietitian
Click the video below to learn about gestational diabetes
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What is Diabetes?
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. Sometimes your body doesn’t make enough—or any—insulin or doesn’t use insulin well. Glucose then stays in your blood and doesn’t reach your cells. Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause health problems.
What is Prediabetes?
In the United States, 96 million adults—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes. More than 8 in 10 of them don’t know they have it. With prediabetes, blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Prediabetes raises your risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. But there’s good news. If you have prediabetes, a CDC-recognized lifestyle change program can help you take healthy steps to reverse it.
What is type-1 and type-2 diabetes?
Type-1 Diabetes
If you have type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. Your immune system attacks and destroys the cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to stay alive.
Type-2 Diabetes
If you have type 2 diabetes, your body does not make or use insulin well. You can develop type 2 diabetes at any age, even during childhood. However, this type of diabetes occurs most often in middle-aged and older people. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes.
Ms. Aurora Cespedes
What Health Problems Can People with Diabetes Develop?
Over time, high blood glucose leads to problems, such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, eye problems, dental disease, nerve damage, and foot problems.
What causes it
What is Gestational Diabetes?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that can develop during pregnancy in women who don’t already have diabetes” (2021)
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) stated, “Gestational diabetes occurs when your body can’t make the extra insulin needed during pregnancy. Insulin, a hormone made in your pancreas, helps your body use glucose for energy and helps control your blood glucose levels” (2017).
Gestational Health Problems
The CDC states that having gestational diabetes can increase your risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy. It can also increase your risk of having a large baby that needs to be delivered by cesarean section (C-section).
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, which can cause breathing and other problems
- Having low blood sugar
- Developing type 2 diabetes later in life
- Being active. Regular physical activity that’s moderately intense (such as brisk walking) lowers your blood sugar and makes you more sensitive to insulin so your body won’t need as much. Make sure to check with your doctor about what kind of physical activity you can do and if there are any kinds you should avoid.
- Monitoring your baby. Your doctor will check your baby’s growth and development.
Treatment
You can do a lot to manage your gestational diabetes. Go to all your prenatal appointments and follow your treatment plan, including:
- Checking your blood sugar to make sure your levels stay in a healthy range.
- Eating healthy food in the right amounts at the right times. Follow a healthy eating plan created by your doctor or dietitian.
Credits
American Diabetes Association (ADA).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
Our Clinics
- Mary P. Lucio Health Clinic
- 1204 Jose Colunga Jr. St, Brownsville, Texas
- Harlingen Public Health Clinic
- 711 N L St, Harlingen, Texas
- Father Joseph O'Brien Health Clinic
- 142 Champion Ave, Port Isabel,
- San Benito Health Clinic
- 1390 W. Expressway 83, San Benito, Texas
Cameron County Public Health
Joe. G. Rivera & Aurora de la Garza | Cameron County Annex Building
1390 W. Expressway 83
San Benito, Texas 78586
956 247-3685
