Diabetes is where the body loses control of the use of glucose. Extra glucose is found in the urine and blood which can be detected by simple tests at your pharmacy or doctor’s. If diabetes is left untreated then it can start to affect organs in the body such as the kidneys, eyes and heart therefore it is important to recognise if you are at risk of having the condition. There are 2 types of diabetes Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 generally affects people under 40and Type 2 over 40 and the older you are, the greater the risk.

So what are the risk factors?

1) Do you have a close relative who has diabetes? The closer the relative, the greater is the risk.

2) Have you an ethnic background such as Asian or African-Caribbean? If so you have a four to five-fold increased risk of    having the disease.

3) Are you overweight for your height? One way of checking is to measure your waist. For women increased risk starts at 31.5″. For Asian men it is 35″and for white and black men it is 37″.

4) Are you pregnant? Some women have what’s called a ‘gestational diabetes’

So what are the symptoms of diabetes?

You feel thirsty all the time and keep passing urine. You feel tired and can start losing weight. Women can develop thrush and itching in the genital area and some people experience blurring of their vision.

If you think you are at risk or have any of the symptoms then pop into your pharmacy. The pharmacist will assess whether you should go to your doctor for further tests.