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Diabetes is yet again tied to another health issue that can be confused with the sign of aging. Let’s begin to understand that diabetes is a systemic problem. We have it burned into our brains that diabetes is a sugar problem. In a manner of speaking it is. But it goes much deeper than that.

Patients with diabetes are twice as likely to result in hearing loss. Prediabetes patients are 30 percent more likely to result in hearing loss than non-prediabetic patients.

Our eyes are precious. I hope you never lose sight of how diabetes can affect them. It’s too easy to believe your eyesight is changing due to aging or reasons outside of diabetes.

Diabetic retinopathy is a complication that affects your eyes due to type 1 and 2 diabetes. This is driven by damage to the blood vessels on the retina.

Did you know you can avoid, slow the progression, and possibly reverse some symptoms of diabetic retinopathy? Diabetic retinopathy usually affects both eyes. Let’s review some of the symptoms:

The underlying reason for skin issues can be related to type 2 diabetes. It can reflect how you are managing this disease.

Thick or dark pigmented patches of skin, lesions, diabetic blisters, or unhealed sores can be common skin conditions due to type 2 diabetes. These may be around the elbow and forearms, and the lower leg area.

Diabetes is still misunderstood by many. National Diabetes Statistics Report in 2017 from the CDC indicate 30.3 million people had diabetes in 2015. That’s approximately 9.4% of the U.S. population. That is an increase from 2012 where 29.1 million had diabetes. Previous to that, in 2010, 25.8 million people had diabetes. In 1980, 5.6 million people were diagnosed with diabetes.

There are two paths we can follow. Either my first statement is accurate, that diabetes is still misunderstood, or, proper patient care is misguided.

On the surface, this chart makes sense and seems pretty clear cut. Let’s step through the process by reviewing a few examples and learn to read between the lines.

• Susan has a fasting glucose of 85 mg/dL, which is in normal range. Two hours after breakfast, her glucose increased to 135 mg/dL. Her post meal glucose is also within range of less than 140 mg/dL.

• Barry has a fasting glucose of 100 mg/dL. Two hours after breakfast, his glucose increased to 150 mg/dL. Both readings are slightly out of range.