“Type 1 diabetes completely changed our entire life.”

Emili Marrs, mother of three, said that her daughter Jaden’s diagnosis was a complete shock.

After the news sank in, living with diabetes became manageable, though.

“We have three healthy and active girls in school, and life is busy,” Emili Marrs said.

With cases of diabetes rising, one Whidbey General Hospital expert says awareness and education are key to preventing the disease.

Since Type 2 diabetes accounts for 85 percent of cases and has been “on the increase,” according to Don Miller, it’s important people are aware of the symptoms.

Miller, a certified nurse and educator in the Diabetes Education and Management department at the hospital, said common signs include increased urination and thirst, blurred vision and feeling very tired.

“Those are signs when people have sustained high blood sugars, in the 200s,” Miller said. “Normal blood sugar is under 100 before meals.”

Other symptoms include losing weight without trying, sores that won’t heal and dry, itchy skin.

Though both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes have “some hereditary component,” said Miller, there are ways to help prevent getting the disease.

He recommends maintaining a healthy weight, exercising and eating a healthy diet that’s low in simple carbohydrates.

Type 1 diabetes is an auto immune disease, Miller said. It causes the body to attack the insulin-making cells.

“There is a difference between Type 1 and Type 2,” Marrs said. “Genetics does play a factor in both types and there is no cure. However, Type 1 diabetes is not preventable and makes you insulin-dependent for life. Type 2 can be controlled by exercise and diet.”

People with Type 2 diabetes won’t necessarily need insulin injections, he said, while those with Type 1 need insulin on diagnosis.

Regardless of which type a person has, Miller said the treatments include the same elements.

“The foundation always is a diet and exercise program, so even if you need medications, they always work better if you have an exercise program and a diet that’s consistent and at moderate levels of carbohydrates,” he said.

For Jaden Marrs, her diagnosis means testing her blood sugar 10-12 times a day and taking two different types of insulin. Currently, she is getting multiple daily injections and will soon receive a continual glucose monitor, which will alert her whenever her blood sugar gets too high or too low, eliminating the need for 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. checks, Emili Marrs said.

“A diagnosis like this is devastatingly hard,” Emili Marrs said. “It doesn’t seem real or fair. Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react. You can have a bad attitude about how unfair it is that your (perfectly healthy-seeming) child gets a disease with no cure, or you can create a plan and move forward.”

Whidbey General Hospital offers classes to educate people on diabetes, as well as to help manage it after diagnosis.

Every other month, it offers a Preventing Diabetes Class, free to the community. The next is planned for sometime in January.

The hospital also offers a four-class series for people diagnosed with diabetes to help plan a diet and exercise program and to help keep blood sugar controlled.

Those classes are funded by Medicare. The next one is 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, in the hospital’s conference rooms.

While Type 2 diabetes is on the increase, Miller said, “we do see that there are interventions, we call them lifestyle interventions, that can reverse that.

“We know how to prevent it, and we know they work.”

“As hard as a diagnosis like this is on your child and your family,” Emili Marrs said, “try and take advantage of the learning opportunities that this presents.

“Let nothing in life stop them from reaching their goals. Diabetes is a part of Jaden, but it does not define her or what she is capable of accomplishing in life.”

For information, visit Whidbey General’s website or call 360-321-7656, ext. 2661.