Conditions and Treatments

Receiving a diabetes diagnosis can be a stressful time for you and your loved ones. You’ll want to learn more about the condition, treatments and changes to your lifestyle.

At Henry Ford Health, our skilled diabetes care providers offer treatment and education to manage diabetes and minimize your symptoms.

Types of diabetes

Diabetes occurs when your body loses the ability to break down the sugar you get from food.

There are 3 types of diabetes:

• Type 1 diabetes: Although it usually affects children and young adults, type 1 diabetes can occur at any age. With type 1 diabetes, your body isn’t able to produce insulin, a hormone the body needs to send glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream into your cells. Learn more about type 1 diabetes.
• Type 2 diabetes: This type develops when your body loses the ability to properly use natural insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Learn more about type 2 diabetes.
• Gestational diabetes: This type of diabetes occurs in some pregnant women, possibly as a response to hormonal changes during pregnancy. It’s important for women with gestational diabetes to receive proper care during pregnancy to ensure the health of their babies. Learn more about gestational diabetes.

The result of any diabetes diagnosis is too much glucose in the bloodstream, which can lead to serious complications including blindness, nerve damage in the legs and even kidney failure.

At Henry Ford, we work with you to help manage diabetes and teach you new, healthier ways to control your glucose with food, exercise and medicine.

If you suspect that you have any of these types of diabetes, contact our experts at Henry Ford for a screening. Find out more about screenings and diagnosis.

Treating diabetes

Through ongoing research, we are always developing new advances in treating diabetes. Here’s what those treatment advancements look like at Henry Ford:

• Insulin pumps: We have the most experience in Michigan in helping patients use insulin pumps to control their blood sugar levels, following more than 500 patients.
• Glucose management: We provide you with the newest glucose monitoring devices, which automatically measure blood sugar levels more than 250 times per day.
• New insulin medications: Our patients have access to the newest medical treatments available anywhere.