Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose (blood sugar) levels are too high. There are different types of diabetes. If you have type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. If you have type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. Insulin is a hormone that helps your body process glucose into energy. You can also have prediabetes, which means your blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. If you have prediabetes, you are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Medline Plus is a reliable website to help you find more information about diabetes.

One in 10 Americans have diabetes; that’s more than 30 million people. Another 84 million Americans are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include being overweight, being 45 years of age or older, having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes, being physically active less than 3 times a week, and ever having gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds. You can lower your risk by eating healthy, getting exercise, and losing weight.

This year, the theme for National Diabetes Month is "You are the Center of Your Diabetes Care Team." Taking charge of your own health is important, but you are not alone in managing this disease. Your healthcare providers, family, friends, and community can all help you to manage diabetes, prediabetes, or your risk factors. Here are 4 steps you can take to manage your diabetes.

The Free Library is one community resource that can help by guiding you to reliable, accurate health information and by offering programming that can help you learn more about risk factors, learn how to control and/or prevent diabetes, and teach you about healthy nutrition. Check out this diabetes booklist in our catalog. 

Join us for some relevant library programming:

• A Taste of African Heritage, Saturdays at South Philadelphia Library from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. and Saturdays at Widener Library from 1:00-3:00 p.m.
• Health Insurance Enrollment & Health Fairs at 5 library locations throughout November: Parkway Central, South Philly, Northeast Regional, Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional, and Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Regional.
• Meatless Mondays at South Philadelphia Library with Chef Char Nolan on Monday, November 13 and Monday, November 27 at 4:00 p.m.
• Keep Calm & Beat Diabetes at Ramonita de Rodriguez Branch on Thursdays at 2:00 p.m.
• Diabetes Prevention Programs are offered at multiple neighborhood libraries as well as at other community organizations.