Among the more popular diabetics are the American inventor Thomas Edison, the English writer H.G. Wells, and US writer Ernest Hemingway. Other well-known diabetics include Star Wars creator George Lucas, singer Ella Fitzgerald and actress Mary Tyler Moore.

To control the disease, blood sugar levels must be normalized as safely and comfortably as possible. For Type I diabetes, which affects five percent of diabetics, this is done with regular shots of insulin to maintain blood sugar levels evenly all day.

For the remaining 95 percent who have Type II diabetes, this can be achieved by non-medical measures like exercise, diet, weight loss and the use of oral antidiabetic drugs.

Early diagnosis and treatment are important to prevent complications. If you suspect you have diabetes, a simple blood or urine test will confirm this. Blood samples can be analyzed for elevated sugar levels or excess ketones, chemical by-products of the breakdown of fat for energy, which are also found in the urine of diabetics. Since people with diabetes don't use glucose normally, their bodies burn fat for fuel and ketones are eliminated in the urine.

Pregnant women who are obese and have a family history of diabetes should also be tested for the disease since they are prone to develop gestational diabetes during the third trimester. Uncontrolled diabetes at this time can affect the infant and lead to birth defects.

While gestational diabetes is a temporary condition, a woman who has just given birth should have a glucose tolerance test four to 16 weeks later since 20 percent of women may develop Type II diabetes within 10 years.

"Although the diagnosis of diabetes is obvious if you have telltale symptoms, your sugar may be elevated for years before they appear. That's why routine screening to measure the sugar level in the blood is so important for everyone, especially if you have a family history of the disease," said Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld of the New York Hospital in "Doctor, What Should I Eat?

"Actual numbers may vary somewhat with the technique used but, generally speaking, a fasting plasma glucose level should normally fall between 70 and 115 milligrams. Values between 115 and 140 milligrams constitute a gray area. A reading greater than 140 milligrams is diagnostic of diabetes. However, certain medications, such as steroid hormones and diuretics, may bring a latent tendency to diabetes, and the increased levels return to normal when the drug is stopped. So remember to tell your doctor if you're taking these medications if you're being tested for diabetes," Rosenfeld added. (Next: Life-saving tips for diabetics.)

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