During Sonia Sotomayor’s testimony last week in her bid to become the next Justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, she had two glasses in front of her. One contained water, which anyone testifying for hours would want on hand. The other contained Sprite, which at that time was more than a refreshment for her – it served a medically necessary purpose. According to a New York Times article last week, Judge Sotomayor has type 1 diabetes. The Sprite was part of her diabetes management by ensuring that a “low blood sugar level” wouldn’t catch her unprepared.

Small actions like these to manage diabetes are taken by tens of millions of people each day. These are the external face of an often desperate juggling act those with diabetes perform, balancing the amount of energy they use with the amount of energy they take in through food. For people with diabetes, the wrong balance can mean life-threatening complications like blindness, kidney failure, or even death. People with type 1 diabetes, such as Judge Sotomayor, have no ability to produce insulin, the hormone that helps convert sugar, starches or other food into energy.

For people with type 2 diabetes – more than 24 million people in the U.S. - their bodies have become resistant to insulin. It’s not that the body doesn’t produce the insulin as in type 1 diabetes, it’s that the body doesn’t recognize it. Although there is no cure for diabetes, the good news is that most type 2 diabetes can be prevented.

For many people, before they develop type 2 diabetes, they develop pre-diabetes, which means that they have elevated levels of blood glucose. There are lifestyle changes you can make BEFORE your pre-diabetes develops into type 2 diabetes.

Scientists are still unlocking all of the “whys” behind the cause of diabetes, but type 2 diabetes has been linked with obesity and lack of exercise. The Centers for Disease Control has been treating diabetes as an epidemic, because diabetes is costing the country $175 billion a year in health care dollars and diabetes has been growing at an epidemic rate.

Type 2 diabetes used to be something that developed in older people; as childhood obesity has spread, more children are now getting it too. The early warning signs for both types of diabetes may be difficult to detect because the “symptoms” – frequent urination, frequent thirst, irritation and tiredness – may be caused by many things. The only true test is to see your doctor and be tested there. 

Sodexo is committed to the health and wellbeing of our customers and the population as a whole. The diabetes epidemic is very important to us, and we’re looking at a number of different ways to help by offering healthy foods and disease management tools. 

Would you like to share your story about managing diabetes or tell your diabetes-related story? You could help others. Please post your comments to this blog. Thanks.