Diabetes was ranked as the 7th leading cause of death according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Diabetes Association website. People can be walking around doing their routine activities and have diabetes for up to 10 years before formally diagnosed. In that span of time, many micro- and macro-vascular complications can occur such as heart disease, eye disease, erectile dysfunction, kidney disease, and nerve damage.
Diabetes is easily diagnosed by a fingerstick or venipuncture test to check the blood sugar level or average blood sugars over the past 3 months (hgbA1c). If fasting blood sugar is over 126, if a random blood sugar is over 200, or hgbA1c is 6.5% or higher, this is diagnostic of diabetes.
There are many medications now approved for the management of diabetes. Lifestyle changes remain the anchor for success.