By now almost everyone has heard or familiar with the word Diabetes. Maybe you heard about Diabetes on the news, from your doctor, TV commercials, health insurance companies, from colleagues at work, personal health issues, annual physical, or information that children bring from school.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Diabetes is the condition in which the body does not properly process food for use as energy. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugars to build up in your blood. Therefore many people refer to diabetes as “sugar.”” The CDC article can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/media/presskits/aahd/diabetes.pdf.

Diabetes should not be taken lightly. It is important that you do your annual physical and talk to your doctor about Diabetes and its impact. Catching diabetes early on and managing it is important. If left untreated diabetes can lead to lower-extremity amputations, blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, and other health complications. In fact, diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

Improve your quality of life by contacting Dr. Harish Thakkar at 281-903-7019. At the Southwest Medical Clinic, Dr. Harish Thakkar has a Comprehensive Diabetic Treatment Plan. Call today and schedule an appointment so that you can improve the quality of your life. Diabetes is a chronic disease and don’t let it control your life.