Diabetes

An older man with glasses sits at a table and checks his blood sugar using a glucose meter, with a blurred cityscape visible through the window behind him.

Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes?

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. With type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. With type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood which can cause damage to your body. You could also have prediabetes. This means that your blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough to be called diabetes. Having prediabetes puts you at a higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes.

Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause serious problems. It can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes can also cause heart disease, stroke and even the need to remove a limb. Pregnant women can also get diabetes, called gestational diabetes.

The good news is that with practice and learning about food some people can manage their diabetes with diet and exercise. Everyone is different and it is important to work with a healthcare professional to better learn ways to control blood glucose.

These are some common questions and resource links:

Marin Community Clinics providers and nutrition staff are here to help you make a health plan that works for you as well as provide you with one on one counseling, group education and additional resources.

Learn More about Diabetes

You have multiple options. You do not need to have insurance or U.S. citizenship.
Call your doctor or urgent care center. If you have insurance, you can call the number on your insurance card to get help with making an appointment.
Find a Test-to-Treat location, which are sites that offer COVID testing and treatment services, near you. To find a site, call the statewide COVID-19 hotline at 833-422-4255.
Make a free phone or video appointment through California’s free telehealth provider and talk to a health care provider the same or next day. Call 833-686-5051 or go to com/covidca.
Some pharmacies, such as CVS and Walgreens, have pharmacists that may be able to give you a prescription for treatment. Call your pharmacy to see if they offer this service.

Call the statewide COVID-19 hotline for questions and help with finding free COVID treatment, at 833-422-4255.

As soon as you have new symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, sore throat or fever, you should immediately test for COVID-19 and ask a doctor about treatment if you are positive.

We have effective tools to take good care of ourselves if we get COVID-19.
COVID-19 treatments are safe, free, widely available, and highly effective at preventing COVID-19 illness from becoming serious.
Benefits
○ Scientific evidence shows that COVID-19 treatments work to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19 by up to 50-88% (cut the risk in half or more)
○ Early evidence also suggests they may lower the risk of developing long COVID symptoms.
○ Treatments like the Paxlovid pill can also prevent the virus from multiplying in your body and infecting more of your cells, which can help you test negative sooner.
They’re available at no charge, regardless of whether you have insurance or your citizenship status
They are recommended for most adults and some teens.
Treatments must be taken within 5 days of testing positive and when symptoms begin to be effective and work well. Seek treatment while your symptoms are still mild, do not wait for your symptoms to get worse.

So if you start feeling a runny nose, cough, or generally not like yourself, act fast and take a COVID test. And if you test positive, seek treatment right away.

Remember – if you test and treat, you can beat COVID-19!

Diabetes

Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes?

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