Diabetes Specialist

Chesapeake Wellness Center

Primary Care Practice & Addiction Medicine located in Cecilton, MD, Elkton, MD & Chestertown, MD

Tens of millions of people in the United States are pre-diabetic, which means they’re poised to join the more than 30 million Americans who already have the disease. These eye-opening numbers are what drive Dr. Paul Katz and the Chesapeake Wellness Center team in Chestertown, Cecilton and Elkton, Maryland, to offer comprehensive diabetes services. Through expert prevention and management techniques, the team helps people in Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne’s counties deal with the severe implications of diabetes. For expert diabetes care, call or use the online scheduling tool to set up an appointment.

Diabetes Q & A

What are the symptoms of diabetes?

The symptoms of diabetes vary based on how much the blood sugar is elevated. For some diabetics, especially those with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, symptoms may not initially be present. For type 1 diabetes, symptoms usually present quickly and are severe.

If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms.

Increase in thirst
Urinating frequently
Hunger that is extreme
Unexplained weight loss
Ketones in urine
Fatigue
Blurry vision
Irritability
Sores that heal slowly
Frequent infections, such as gums, skin or vaginal

What is diabetes?

There are many different types of diabetes, but all have one thing in common — your body is unable to regulate glucose levels in your blood. There are two main types of the condition:

Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which your pancreas doesn’t produce enough (or any) insulin, the hormone needed to regulate your blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes is also called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes

This type of diabetes develops when your body becomes insulin-resistant and you’re unable to produce enough to regulate your blood sugar levels. This type of the disease use to primarily affect adults, but now more children are developing type 2 diabetes, largely because of obesity.

No matter the type of this disease, the complications that can develop as a result of unregulated glucose are very serious, even life-threatening, and include:

Heart disease
Heart attack or stroke
Neuropathy (nerve damage)
Vision loss
Kidney disease

These complications arise because of compromised circulation, which can have a widespread and devastating effect on your body, as seen in the list above.

Who is at risk for developing diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that’s tied back to genetics, primarily and typically comes on in childhood. Type 2 diabetes, however, is far more prevalent and usually develops in adulthood. In fact, this type of diabetes has been labeled a health care crisis as tens of millions of people are perilously close to crossing over into this chronic disease.

Factors that increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes include:

Excess weight
Inactivity
Genetics
Ethnicity
High blood pressure

While some of these factors can’t be helped, many can; which is where the Chesapeake Wellness Center team comes in.

How is diabetes treated?

The best possible scenario is for the Chesapeake Wellness Center team to intervene while you’re still considered pre-diabetic. Through medications and lifestyle changes, like losing weight and exercising more, you can turn the tide of diabetes.

If you’ve crossed over into diabetes, the team works with you to properly manage the disease since there’s no cure. Through vigilant regulation of your glucose levels, as well as close monitoring of your health, they can help you steer clear of the serious complications that can develop all too easily because of diabetes.

For experienced diabetic care, call Chesapeake Wellness Center or use the online booking tool.

What we offer