Diabetes Specialist

RevaMed Primary Care Associates

Board Certified Internal Medicine located in Boyton Beach, Boca Raton, & Greenacres, FL

Your body needs sugar in your blood to provide energy for your brain, muscles, and tissue. However, too much sugar exposes you to a range of health risks. At RevaMed Primary Care Associates in Boynton Beach, Boca Raton, and Greenacres, Florida, the experienced team is committed to helping patients with diabetes maintain healthy blood sugar levels. To get started with diabetes care from their team of experts, call your nearest office or book your appointment online.

Diabetes Q & A

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a group of diseases marked by your body’s inability to maintain healthy blood sugar, or glucose, levels. Insulin, a hormone your body uses to convert the sugar in your blood to energy for your cells, is linked to diabetes.

A healthy body produces sufficient insulin to utilize the sugar in its blood. In cases of diabetes, however, there is an issue with insulin that causes sugar buildup in the bloodstream. 

This excess of blood sugar may cause symptoms, including:

  • Hunger and thirst
  • Increased urination
  • Irritability
  • Fatigue
  • Slow-healing sores
  • Increased susceptibility to infections

If left unchecked, the buildup of blood sugar increases your risk of a wide range of health complications, including:

  • Kidney damage
  • Nerve damage
  • Heart attack
  • Stroke
  • Skin conditions
  • Alzheimer’s disease

What are the most common types of diabetes?

Other than gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that arises in some pregnant women but usually resolves once the baby is born, there are two common types of diabetes. 

Type 1 diabetes

The immune system of people with type 1 diabetes mistakenly attacks the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. This leaves the body with an insulin shortage that causes glucose buildup in the blood. Most people with type 1 diabetes receive a diagnosis during adolescence. 

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, usually develops later in life and has links to unhealthy lifestyle choices like minimal exercise and a diet centered on processed foods. 

Because of these lifestyle choices, your body can become resistant to insulin as it tries to pull sugar from your blood to your cells. The body produces more insulin in an attempt to overcome this resistance, but it can’t keep up with the increased resistance in people with type 2 diabetes. 

How is diabetes treated?

The RevaMed Primary Care Associates team personalizes diabetes treatment to your body and your specific type of diabetes. 

Lifestyle changes are a powerful tool you can leverage for both types of diabetes and can effectively treat type 2 diabetes in many cases. Exercising regularly and eating healthily promotes balanced blood sugar levels in your body. 

The RevaMed Primary Care Associates team works with you to customize a nutrition and exercise plan that aligns with your preferences and works with your lifestyle.

RevaMed Primary Care Associates can also prescribe insulin to balance your blood sugar. Insulin is necessary for people with type 1 diabetes. 

To learn more about the personalized diabetes care available at RevaMed Primary Care Associates, call or schedule your appointment online.