Risk Factors for Diabetes

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Learning About and Living with Diabetes

Diabetes is diagnosed in Americans with increasing frequency. It is a condition requiring careful management and awareness by both the patient and his family. Fortunately, the Internet has made this task easier. Whether you're researching adult or juvenile diabetes, or if you seek help for yourself or for a loved one, the Web offers many resources for understanding diabetes and its treatments. Click here to read this guide in Spanish.

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What Is Diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is commonly called juvenile diabetes, and type two is called adult onset ... read more »

Risk Factors for Diabetes

Researchers haven't pinpointed the cause of type 1 diabetes, and so are unsure what risk factors lead to it. Efforts have been more successful in the case of type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes. The sites in this section discuss the associated risks and offer advice on how to reduce yours.

Dulcinea's Insight

A large part of type 2 diabetes prevention is diet and exercise. If you visit sites that promote a good healthy lifestyle, with exercise and a healthy diet, you are already on your way to diabetes prevention. For more information on exercise, visit the findingDulcinea Fitness Web Guide.

Taking questionnaires offered by many diabetes sites is a good way to find out if you or someone you love is at risk of developing the disease. However, a conversation with your physician has no substitute.

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes brought on by pregnancy. In this section you'll find a selection of pages with information specific to gestational diabetes.

Dulcinea's Picks

For risk information ...

The American Diabetes Association provides "Diabetes Personal Health Decisions," a questionnaire that helps figure out your risk for developing diabetes. You can save your profile and refer to it at a later date.

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Siteman Cancer Center

is part of Barnes Jewish Hospital, and offers a "Your Diabetes Risk" tool, which was originally developed by the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention. This multi-page questionnaire asks about family history, eating habits, smoking and physical activity.

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The University of Maryland Medical System offers this type 2 diabetes risk calculator. To begin, enter your age, weight, height, gender, and body frame, then answer a few questions on your health history. You'll be brought to a page that states your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

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For gestational diabetes ...

The National Institute of Child Health & Human Development has made available this two-page document, "Am I at Risk for Gestational Diabetes?" and a 48-page document called "Managing Gestational Diabetes: A Patient's Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy" (available in PDF or HTML format).

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Mayo Clinic has a comprehensive "Gestational diabetes" section with the signs and symptoms of the disease, causes, complications, treatment options, and other topics.

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The March of Dimes addresses the complications that can arise during pregnancy, and here focuses on gestational diabetes. The risk factors that contribute to gestational diabetes are covered, along with the sometimes subtle symptoms to look out for.

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