1. Symptoms

   1. Understanding Diabetes – Symptoms. The warning signs of diabetes can be so mild that you don’t notice them. That’s especially true of type 2 diabetes. With type 1 diabetes, the symptoms usually happen quickly, in a matter of days or a few weeks. 

2. Causes & Risk Factors

   1. What Increases My Risk?: One of every four people with diabetes doesn’t know they have it. See if your risk of having the disease is high.

Diagnosis & Tests

1. Diagnosing Diabetes

   1. Diagnosis of Diabetes: Diabetes and pre-diabetes are diagnosed with a fasting plasma glucose test, oral glucose tolerance test, or random plasma glucose test.

2. Diabetes Tests & Screening

   1. Blood Glucose: A blood glucose test measures the amount of a type of sugar, called glucose, in your blood. Glucose comes from carbohydrate foods. It is the main source of energy used by the body.
   2. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) Test: The hemoglobin A1c test, also called HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin test, or glycohemoglobin, is an important blood  test that shows how well your diabetes is being controlled.
   3. Urine Tests and Diabetes: Two simple tests that check your urine can help you and your doctor watch for kidney disease and severe high blood sugar.
   4. Oral Glucose Tolerance Test: Although doctors don’t routinely use it anymore, the oral glucose tolerance test is the gold standard for diagnosing type 2 diabetes. It’s still commonly used to diagnose gestational diabetes, a condition that a woman can get while pregnant.

Treatments

1. 1. While there is no cure for diabetes, there are treatments, including simple things you can do daily, that make a big difference. 
   2. Your Diabetes Care Team: Different doctors can help you manage different aspects of your diabetes. Find out who you need on your team. 

2. Insulin

   1. Insulin for Diabetes: Insulin is a hormone that controls blood sugar. There are many types of insulin used to treat diabetes. Learn about the most common, side effects, storage tips, and more.
   2. Types of Insulin: Many forms of insulin treat diabetes, including rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, long-acting, and pre-mixed. Learn which type is best for your diabetes.
   3. Insulin Questions for Your Doctor: Has your doctor prescribed insulin to help manage your type 1 or type 2 diabetes? You’ll want to know how and when to take it, what side effects could happen, and what other changes you may need to make.
   4. Inhaled Insulin: Inhaled insulin is another option for people with diabetes to control their blood sugar. It works for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but you shouldn’t use it if you smoke or have asthma or COPD.

3. Non-Insulin Treatments

   1. Non-Insulin Diabetes Injectables: Insulin isn’t the only type of injectable diabetes medicine your doctor might prescribe for you. Learn about other injectable medications.
   2. Oral Medications for Diabetes: When you think about diabetes drugs, you may think of insulin or other medications that you get from a shot or a pump. But there are others that you take as a pill or that you inhale.

Living With Diabetes

1. Diabetes and Diet

   1. Carbs, Fiber, and Diabetes:When you watch your diet because you have diabetes, you’ll want to pay special attention to carbohydrates, because they can affect your blood sugar level faster than protein or fat. 
   2. Serving Sizes for Diabetes: Confused about how much you can eat when you have diabetes? First you need to know how much food is in a serving. It may be different from what you expect. 
   3. Using the Glycemic Index: The glycemic index gives you a way to tell slower-acting “good carbs” from the faster “bad carbs.” You can use it to fine-tune your carb-counting and help keep your blood sugar more steady. 
   4. Diabetes and Alcohol: Drinking alcohol can cause your blood sugar to rise. Learn other effects of alcohol on diabetes, and how to drink safely.

2. Diabetes and Exercise

   1. 10 Muscle Moves to Help Tame Diabetes: If you have diabetes, you know the importance of controlling your blood sugar. But strength training can also play a starring role, as simple moves done regularly can prompt your muscles to absorb more sugar.

3. Managing Blood Sugar Levels

   1. Slideshow: Tips for Controlling Your Blood Sugar-With diabetes, it’s important to avoid low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). See how to control your glucose level with insulin, diet, and exercise.
   2. Continuous Glucose Monitoring: Continuous glucose monitors are FDA-approved systems that track your blood sugar levels day and night. Learn how they work and who might benefit from using one.
   3. How and When to Test Your Blood Sugar: Most people with diabetes need to check their blood sugar (glucose) levels regularly. The results help you and your doctor manage those levels, which helps you avoid diabetes complications.

4. Diabetes and Family Planning

   1. Planning a Pregnancy With Diabetes: Starting a family requires a bit more planning when you’re a mother-to-be with diabetes. But you can take some simple steps to make sure your pregnancy and your baby are safe and healthy.

5. Living Better

   1. Managing Sick Days With Diabetes: An illness can boost your blood sugar, so it’s important to stay on top of your glucose levels. Learn tips for managing your diabetes despite being sick.
   2. Diabetes Resources and Support: Looking for organizations that provide information that can help you manage your diabetes? You may want to start with these groups.

6. Foot and Skin Care

   1. Foot Care for Diabetes: If you have diabetes, it is important to check your feet once a day and protect them from cuts, corns, blisters, and injuries.
   2. Caring for Your Skin With Diabetes: Diabetes can dry out your skin. That means you could get injured more easily, be more likely to get an infection, and take longer to heal. Follow these tips to care for your skin and keep it healthy.
   3. 6 Simple Skin Care Tips: Diabetes makes you more likely to get a wide range of skin problems. But you can do a lot to keep yours healthy. These simple tips can help.

Complications

1. Preventing Complications

   1. How to Prevent Diabetes Complications: Diabetes can cause a lot of complications that can affect nearly every organ in your body. Learn what you can do to prevent these problems. 
   2. 9 Lifestyle Tips to Avoid Complications: Keeping your diabetes under control will help you prevent heart, nerve, and foot problems. Learn 9 things you can do right now.

2. Diabetes and Your Body

   1. How Does Diabetes Affect Your Body? Diabetes can take a toll on nearly every organ in your body. Learn how it affects your heart and blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and more.

3. Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

   1. Treating Diabetic Nerve Pain: Nerve pain caused by diabetes, known as diabetic peripheral neuropathy, can be severe, constant, and hard to treat. Controlling your blood sugar can make a big difference.
   2. Diabetes and Your Feet: Even a minor cut in your skin could become an ulcer or a serious infection. Learn how to prevent issues like these with good foot care.

4. Other Complications and Related Conditions

   1. How to Handle an Insulin Overdose: Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, happens to many people with diabetes. Thankfully, most episodes related to insulin can be avoided if you follow a few simple rules.
   2. Diabetic Shock and Insulin Reactions: An insulin reaction is a health risk for anyone with diabetes. It can occur anytime there is an imbalance between the insulin in your system, the amount of food you eat, or your level of activity. 
   3. Slideshow: Diabetes and Eye Problems: Diabetes can increase your risk of eye problems. See common diabetes-related eye ailments and what treatments are available.
   4. Kidney Disease and Diabetes: Diabetic nephropathy — kidney disease that results from diabetes — is the No. 1 cause of kidney failure. Learn the symptoms, how it’s diagnosed, and how to treat it.
   5. Diabetes and Skin Conditions: Skin conditions related to this disease are common. Fortunately, most can be successfully treated before they turn into a serious problem. The key is to catch them early.
   6. Infections and Diabetes: Most infections in people with diabetes can be treated. But you have to be able to spot the symptoms. Learn what to look for.
   7. Diabetes and Heart Disease: Having diabetes makes heart disease more likely. Learn more about the link and how to lower your risk.
   8. Diabetes and Depression: Learn about the link between diabetes and depression, how to spot symptoms of depression, how to treat it, and more.
   9. Diabetes and Smoking: Smoking is bad for everyone, and it’s especially risky if you have diabetes. Here are 14 tips to help you quit.
   10. Diabetic Macular Edema: Learn the causes, symptoms, and treatment of diabetic macular edema, an eye condition brought on by diabetes.
   11. Diabetes and Colds: If you have diabetes, catching colds can make your condition worse. Here’s what you can do to stay well.
   12. Meralgia Paresthetica: Starting a family requires a bit more planning when you’re a mother-to-be with diabetes. But you can take some simple steps to make sure your pregnancy and your baby are safe and healthy.