Diabetes

According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 30 million Americans suffer from diabetes and its complications. At Fountain of Youth Medical Spa in Birmingham, Alabama, you have access to Victor Mendoza, MD, Umut Tufan, MD, and the rest of the team to help you treat diabetes and optimize your health. Call the office to learn more or request an appointment online today. 

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a condition marked by your body’s inability to properly process blood sugar, or blood glucose. You need glucose to perform your daily functions and to have energy.

Your pancreas makes the hormone insulin. Its job is to use or store the sugar from the food you eat. When blood sugar levels rise, your pancreas responds by generating more insulin. Over time, your body can become insulin resistant, leading to a number of grave problems like vision issues, hypertension, heart attack, kidney disease, kidney failure, stroke, neuropathy, pain, and hearing loss.

Sugar accrues in your blood because of a problem with insulin.

What are the types of diabetes?

There are two kinds of diabetes:

Type 1

Previously known as juvenile-onset diabetes, Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that can develop in childhood as well as adulthood. With Type 1 diabetes, your pancreas no longer makes insulin.

Type 2 

Formerly called adult-onset diabetes, Type 2 diabetes develops over time and is characterized by decreased insulin production by the pancreas and the inability to use insulin well (referred to as insulin resistance). Type 2 Diabetes is more common in overweight men and women in middle age, though anyone can get it at any time. Medical professionals are seeing more and more cases of Type 2 diabetes in adolescents and young adults.

What are the symptoms of diabetes?

Excess sugar in your blood causes a number of telltale symptoms:

• Frequent need to urinate
• Dry mouth
• Excessive hunger and thirst
• Blurry vision
• Numbness and tingling
• Recurring yeast infections
• Slow-healing sores
• Brain fog

You can still have diabetes without any or all of these symptoms. Make it a habit to have an annual checkup with the team at Fountain of Youth Medical Spa to monitor your blood panels and overall health.

How is diabetes treated?

The team of caring providers at Fountain of Youth Medical Spa understands that diabetes is a serious disease. Treatment will likely include custom diet and exercise plans, lifestyle modifications, counseling, weight loss protocols, blood glucose monitoring, oral medications, and sometimes insulin injections.

Regular office visits help your provider track the progression of your diabetes and minimize or prevent complications such as peripheral neuropathy, kidney disease, retinal disease, circulatory and heart disease.

Call Fountain of Youth Medical Spa to learn more about diabetes management, or request an appointment online today.