Diabetes
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Hugo M Toro, MD, PA
Board Certified Internal Medicine located in Katy, TX
Diabetes is a serious disease that can cause life-changing complications and might lead to premature death. Type 2 diabetes is preventable, and if caught early enough, reversible, so visit the office of Hugo M Toro, MD, PA, a board-certified internist, for a diabetes screening test before you start experiencing any symptoms. The team provides practical advice and effective therapies for diabetes that can significantly improve your quality of life and prevent some of the devastating effects of untreated diabetes. Call his practice in Katy, Texas today to schedule a screening test.
Diabetes Q&A
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is an endocrine condition that develops when your body can’t make enough insulin, can’t make use of the insulin it’s making, or can’t make any insulin at all.
The hormone insulin is essential for regulating the levels of sugar in your blood, or blood glucose. Your pancreas is responsible for making insulin and distributing it around your body.
With little or no insulin, your body can’t control your blood glucose, which can cause a variety of problems throughout your body. Some of these are potentially life-threatening, so getting treatment for diabetes – or even better, preventing it when possible – is vitally important.
What causes diabetes?
There are several different types of diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a condition that involves a malfunction in the immune system. Immune system disorders cause your body’s defenses to attack cells and tissues in your body in error. With type 1 diabetes, this destroys the cells in your pancreas that make insulin.
As you can’t make any insulin if you have type 1 diabetes, it means you need to take insulin for the rest of your life. There’s nothing you can do to prevent type 1 diabetes, which usually starts causing symptoms in childhood.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a different matter. This type of diabetes develops slowly, often over years, and tends to start at a later age. If you have type 2 diabetes, it means you have too little insulin, or your body can’t process the insulin you’re making.
The critical fact concerning type 2 diabetes is that it’s almost always brought on by unhealthy habits, which means it’s also largely preventable.
A high sugar diet, smoking, drinking too much alcohol, and getting very little exercise all increase your risk of getting type 2 diabetes. The chief cause, though, is being overweight or obese.
How is type 2 diabetes treated?
Treatment for type 2 diabetes starts with addressing the poor health habits that are causing the problem. The Hugo M Toro, MD, PA, team can support you with making changes and advise you on how to succeed when you’re trying to lose weight, exercise more, and quit bad habits.
Losing weight needs to be a priority, but it can also be challenging for many people, so it’s important to have people behind you to help you achieve your weight loss goals. Dr. Toro worked with an endocrinologist, a specialist in conditions like diabetes, for 10 years, and has considerable experience in helping people who have this condition.
Depending on how high your blood glucose levels are, you might also need to take medication to help regulate your blood sugar. The Hugo M Toro, MD, PA, team also needs to see you regularly to check for the many complications diabetes can cause, including:
- Eye problems
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Leg ulcers
- Kidney disease
- Heart problems
- Depression
Prevention is definitely better than management, and you can see the team for a simple blood test to check your blood sugar levels. You might have the first signs of diabetes, where your blood sugar is high but not irreversible. This is called prediabetes, which can be reversed with lifestyle changes.
Arrange your diabetes screening by calling Hugo M Toro, MD, PA, today.
More Information
For more information about diabetes treatments, Hugo Toro, MD, PA recommends the following sources: