Donnie Rhett Koonce is a long-time Charlotte, North Carolina resident. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a BA in anthropology and an MS in biomedical science from Wake Forest University. Donnie Rhett Koonce currently works as an ophthalmic technician at Charlotte Optometric Clinic, and a research assistant focused on identifying the correlation between diabetes and cardiovascular disease in men and women.
A person with diabetes could have either type 1, type 2, or gestational diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, your body's pancreas stops producing adequate amounts of insulin, which is needed to regulate your blood sugar level. To ensure blood sugar levels remain normal, a person diagnosed with type 1 diabetes needs to take insulin daily. This type of diabetes affects about 5 to 10 percent of persons with diabetes.
Over 90 percent of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, making it the most common type of diabetes. With type 2 diabetes, the body does produce insulin, but it is not used well, which keeps your blood sugar levels at abnormal levels. You can prevent or manage this type of diabetes by eating healthy foods and regularly exercising. Currently, type1 and type two diabetes don't have a cure.
If you're pregnant, you could develop gestational diabetes, which causes you to have high blood sugar. About 2 percent to 10 percent of expectant mothers have gestational diabetes in the US annually. In most instances, the disease goes away after birth. However, during pregnancy, if not properly managed, this type of diabetes can cause your baby to be obese and increase the chances of both of you developing type 2 diabetes in the future.
