Diabetes is a problem that has many consequences: If you have the disease, your body can no longer keep its blood sugar at a healthy level. But over time, the effects of diabetes can become much more complicated. The disease can lead to serious, even life-threatening problems from your head to your toes.

Too much blood sugar (also called glucose) can damage the blood vessels and nerves that run throughout your body. This can set the stage for many other medical conditions:

stroke
heart disease
kidney disease
vision problems and blindness
damage to the feet or legs

However, there is good news for the 26 million Americans with diabetes—and those at risk. Experts are learning more all the time about lifestyle steps for diabetes control and prevention. New medications and devices can also help you keep control over your blood sugar and prevent complication

Though type 1 diabetes usually develops in childhood or early adulthood, it can develop later in life. However, it’s not currently known what the exact risk factors are or how to prevent it.

Women can lower their risk of gestational diabetes by staying active and keeping a healthy weight before they ever get pregnant, particularly if they have other risk factors for diabetes.

The form of diabetes you can do a lot to prevent is type 2 diabetes. Usually, people first develop prediabetes before they go on to have full-blown type 2 diabetes. If you know that you have prediabetes, making changes to your lifestyle is an important way to keep from developing diabetes, Kalyani says. Talk to your doctor about some ways to reduce risk:

Lose (even a little) weight. The Diabetes Prevention Program, a large-scale study of diabetes prevention strategies in those at high risk for type 2 diabetes, found that participants who engaged in 30 minutes of physical activity daily and lost at least 7 percent of their body weight cut their risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 58 percent. How it works: Losing excess pounds through proper diet and exercise can improve the body’s ability to use insulin and to process glucose more efficiently.

Move more. To maintain an active lifestyle and reduce risk of diabetes, aim for at least two and a half hours of exercise each week. You don’t have to work out hard—even brisk walking can help, says Kalyani.

Enjoy a healthy diet. Develop an eating plan that helps you lose weight and keep it off. You may want to work with a dietitian to learn healthy eating habits that you can follow long-term. Some smart steps: focusing on produce, whole grains , and lean protein , and cutting back on fat and red meat.

Try medical interventions. You may need to take medication to lower your chances of developing diabetes, especially if lifestyle changes aren’t helping enough, Kalyani states. A drug that doctors often recommend in these cases for persons with prediabetes is metformin. It can help you better control your blood sugar by reducing the amount of glucose that your liver makes.

Diagnosis

Common symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes include:

unusual thirst or hunger
frequent urination
fatigue
blurry vision
weight loss

However, some people with diabetes don’t always notice symptoms, particularly in the early stages.

At one time, being tested for prediabetes or diabetes took a little more work: A health care provider took a sample of your blood, and you had to either go without eating for eight hours or swallow a heavily sweetened drink made for diabetes testing. However, the newer test doesn’t require any special preparation. The hemoglobin A1C test measures how much glucose has attached to red blood cells in your blood. This provides a view of your blood sugar levels over the past three months. An A1C of 5.7 percent to 6.4 percent is classified as prediabetes; 6.5 percent or higher is diabetes.

Treatment

People with type 1 diabetes need to treat it with regular injections of insulin. People with type 2 diabetes can sometimes manage it with insulin injections, non-insulin injections, pills, diet and/or exercise.

If you develop diabetes, your main task is still to keep your blood sugar under control. But you also have a new goal: preventing complications. Here’s how to use the many methods that are available to stay at your best health.

Prevent complications. Heart disease and stroke are the top causes of death among people with type 2 diabetes. To lower your risk of these threats and other complications, your doctor might make these recommendations:

Lose weight.
Stop smoking.
Take aspirin regularly if you are at high risk.
Use medications to control high blood pressure or unhealthy cholesterol.
Keep your feet in good condition. Even small blisters or other small injuries on your feet can grow into serious problems.