Name: _______________________________
BCS 448 – 7th grade Science
Class # ________________
Date: __________________
Read the information below and view the videos “Complications from Diabetes” and “BBC News Health
http://www.clearlyhealth.com/videos/diabetes/complications/complications_overview
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17278379
People with diabetes are at a higher risk of certain health problems. As a person with diabetes, it is
important to monitor and maintain healthy blood glucose levels. High blood glucose levels over a long period
of time can lead to heart attack and stroke, blindness, kidney failure, and nerve damage.
Heart disease and stroke are two to four times more common in people with diabetes. High blood glucose
levels increase the rate of plaque build-up in your artery walls. The plaque makes it difficult for blood to flow
through your arteries, and can even block it - causing a heart attack or stroke.
A common eye problem in people with diabetes is Diabetic Retinopathy, which is damage to the eyes. High
blood glucose levels over a long period of time can weaken the blood vessels around your eyes. When your
body tries to repair itself by forming new blood vessels, it can cause swelling and bleeding inside your eyes.
Another complication associated with diabetes is damage to your kidneys. High blood glucose levels can
damage the blood vessels inside your kidneys, causing them to leak. Protein and nutrients are lost in your
urine, and toxins build up in your bloodstream, which can lead to fatal complications.
High blood glucose levels over a long period of time can also cause nerve damage, known as Diabetic
Neuropathy. When blood containing a high level of glucose passes through your blood vessels, it can
damage them, preventing nutrients from reaching your nerve. When the nerve is damaged, you will feel
tingling or burning in that part of your body. When it dies, you will have a complete loss of feeling.
By getting daily physical activity, eating a healthy diet, and taking your prescribed medication, along with
lowering your cholesterol and blood pressure, you can reduce your chances of developing complications
from your diabetes.
Describe (5) health risks that are often caused by diabetes and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar):
Health risk
1)
2)
3)
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5)
Description
Name: _______________________________
BCS 448 – 7th grade Science
Class # ________________
Date: __________________
Facts from the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. teens is on the fast track to diabetes, if they don’t already have the disease,
according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that was
published Monday in Pediatrics.

Type 2 diabetes begins when the body develops a resistance to insulin and no longer uses the
insulin properly. As the need for insulin rises, the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce
sufficient amounts of insulin to regulate blood sugar.

Type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents already appears to be a sizable and growing
problem among U.S. children and adolescents. Better physician awareness and monitoring of
the disease’s magnitude will be necessary.

Children and adolescents diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are generally between 10 and 19
years old

Type 2 diabetes — once referred to as adult-onset diabetes — was rarely seen among children
before the 1990s. But as American children and teens started getting fatter, related cases of
diabetes began to rise.

Health care providers are finding more and more children with type 2 diabetes, a disease
usually diagnosed in adults aged 40 years or older.

Type 2 diabetes, the kind linked with obesity, progresses much faster and is harder to treat in
children than in adults, according to the disappointing results of a new study that sought to
determine the best treatment for the disease in obese teens.