From the ACP Diabetes Care Guide

A form for patients to record their test results and keep track of their progress.

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From the ACP Diabetes Care Guide

What patients need to know about monitoring, exercise, self-management, and preventive care, on one page.

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ACP's Doctors for Adults Campaign developed this patient information document on diabetes and the importance of managing the condition properly.

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This patient information booklet discussess diabetes and how it affects the African American community in a culturally sensitive way.

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This is a Guide for Hispanic American patients with diabetes that is both in English and Spanish and discussess diabetes care in a culturally sensitive manner.

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A simple and brief patient information brochure on diabetes and its complications.

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The ACP and the ADA jointly developed this patient information guide that covers many aspects of diabetes care including glucose control, blood pressure control and lipids control. It is available in English and Spanish.

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Insulin is a substance that the pancreas makes to help the body store energy from food. People with type 2 diabetes mellitus make plenty of insulin, but their bodies cannot use it normally, resulting in high blood sugar levels. Some people do not have type 2 diabetes but have "insulin resistance."

People with insulin resistance do not have the high blood sugar levels that occur in people with type 2 diabetes, but their bodies must produce large amounts of insulin to keep sugar levels normal. Insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Many people with insulin resistance are overweight. Losing weight can improve insulin resistance and prevent type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Knowing whether overweight patients had insulin resistance could help doctors tell who would benefit most from weight loss.

Unfortunately, the standard testing for insulin resistance is a complicated laboratory procedure.

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Diabetes mellitus is a common disease that interferes with the body's ability to store energy from food. The pancreas makes a substance called insulin that helps to store energy from food. Type 1 diabetes (juvenile diabetes) occurs when the pancreas stops making insulin.

In type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes), the body makes plenty of insulin but is unable to use it normally. In both cases, the result is high blood sugar levels. Over time, high blood sugar levels can lead to blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage, and heart disease. Fortunately, good care with diet, exercise, and medications can prevent the development of complications.

Good care includes treatment to keep blood sugar levels normal. People with diabetes have more heart attacks and strokes than people without diabetes. Controlling blood pressure and cholesterol helps to prevent these complications. For people with diabetes who also have high blood pressure and cholesterol problems, good care also includes intensive treatment of these conditions.

Type 1 diabetes usually does not go long before being diagnosed. However, many people with type 2 diabetes have diabetes for years before symptoms begin. Testing people who have no symptoms to try to detect disease early is called screening. Screening for diabetes would be helpful only if people who begin treatment before symptoms develop do better than people who start treatment after symptoms develop.

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Type 2 diabetes mellitus, also known as adult-onset diabetes, is a common disease that interferes with the body's ability to use sugar, resulting in high levels in the blood. Over time, high blood sugar levels can lead to complications such as blindness, kidney failure, and heart disease.

Diet, exercise, or medications can prevent people who are at high risk for type 2 diabetes from developing the disease. The standard way of identifying people at risk for type 2 diabetes is to measure blood sugar levels 2 hours after a standard amount of sugar is consumed.

This test is called an oral glucose tolerance test, and it is inconvenient and costly. Easier and less costly ways of identifying people who might benefit from strategies to prevent diabetes would be useful.

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Type 2 diabetes mellitus, the most common form of diabetes, interferes with the body's ability to store foods, resulting in high blood levels of sugar. Over time, high blood sugar levels lead to complications such as blindness, kidney failure, and heart disease.

Being overweight and physically inactive increases a person's chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Diet probably affects the risk for this disease, but it is difficult to separate the risk of diet from the risks of being overweight and inactive.

Moreover, previous studies of diet and diabetes have given a narrow view of diet and diabetes because these studies focused on individual food components instead of the balance between different types of foods (dietary patterns).

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Diabetes mellitus is a common disease that interferes with the body's ability to store energy from food. The pancreas makes a substance called insulin that helps to store energy from food. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (also called juvenile diabetes) occurs when the pancreas stops making insulin.

In type 2 diabetes mellitus (also called adult-onset diabetes), the body makes plenty of insulin but is unable to use it normally. In both cases, the result is high blood sugar levels. Over time, high blood sugar levels can lead to blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage, and heart disease.

Fortunately, good care with diet, exercise, and medications to keep blood sugar under control can prevent the development of these serious, costly complications. The control of blood pressure and cholesterol is also very important for patients with diabetes.

Because it is possible to accomplish so much with good care, it is important to know about the general quality of diabetes care in the United States. To date, no one has provided a "national report card" to show how well the United States is achieving the promise of medical care for diabetes.

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From the National Library of Medicine (NLM)
This resource compiles content related to general background on diabetes, and is intended for patients.

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Diabetes PHD (Personal Health Decisions), from the American Diabetes Association (ADA), is a powerful new risk assessment tool. It can be used to explore the effects of a wide variety of health care interventions, including losing weight, stopping smoking, and taking certain medications.

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From the National Library of Medicine
This multimedia tutorial provides an overview of diabetes and offers tips for patients on managing the disease.

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