What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a serious, lifelong condition that kills more than a million people each year and can affect anyone.
It occurs when the body is unable to manage all the sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream. Its complications can lead to heart attacks, strokes, blindness, kidney failure and amputations.
It is a growing problem, with an estimated 422 million people living with diabetes globally. According to the World Health Organization, that is a four-fold increase compared to 40 years ago.
Despite this risk, half of people with diabetes do not know they have it.
However, it can often be prevented with lifestyle changes. How can you do that?
What are the risk factors for diabetes?
When we eat, our bodies convert carbohydrates into glucose, or sugar. A hormone called insulin, produced in the pancreas, then instructs our body's cells to absorb that sugar for energy.
