November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.

Christine Drake, Registered Nurse, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, for Guthrie County Hospital says that diabetes is a disease that comes in a few different forms, including Type 1, Type 2 and gestational. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio how Type 2 diabetes affects individuals.

“When you have Type 2 diabetes what happens is your body starts to become resistant to insulin. So it can’t bind to the cells and so then the cells can’t use the sugar that’s circulating in the bloodstream so that causes your blood sugars to rise.”

Drake mentions that Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder that attacks beta cells in the pancreas, causing it to no longer be able to produce insulin. She adds that gestational diabetes usually happens between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy because of hormonal changes in the placenta.