Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause health problems, such as heart disease, nerve damage, eye problems, and kidney disease. You can take steps to prevent diabetes or manage it.

As of 2014, 29.1 million people in the United States, or 9.3 percent of the population, have diabetes. One in four people with diabetes don’t know they have the disease. An estimated 86 million Americans aged 20 years or older have prediabetes.

Diabetes organ diagram

Many areas of the body can be affected by diabetes. Learn about diabetes health problems.