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metabolism that go along with aging. A final risk factor is having given birth to a baby who weighed more than nine pounds or having developed gesta- tional diabetes during a pregnancy. If either applies, a person’s chance of get- ting type 2 diabetes later in life increases by about 50 percent.

Symptoms So now you know many of the factors that put one at risk for diabetes, but how can you tell if you’re actu- ally developing the disease? The symptoms for this kind of diabetes usually develop slowly and may go undiagnosed for months or even years. Regular med- ical checkups can help identify the condition. Some of the most common symptoms that a person can watch for, however, are:

feeling really thirsty frequently urinating often being very hungry more often than usual

feeling tired all the time noticing blurred vision developing sores that heal slowly healing slowly (wounds)

sensing “pins and needles” or tingling in feet having itchy skin, particularly in extremities frequent vaginal or bladder infections finding sugar in urine (identified by a urine test)

You may have one or more of these symptoms before you even find out you have diabetes. Or you may have no signs at all. “Pre-diabetes” is a classi- fication doctors assign to those people who have blood-glucose levels higher than normal but not high enough for a diabetes diagnosis (140–199 mg two

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