
Diabetes
If you’ve been diagnosed with type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes or pre-diabetes, Northwestern Medicine offers comprehensive education and resources to help you live well and manage your condition.
Why Choose Northwestern Medicine for Your Diabetes Education?
Whether you’re trying to get diabetes under control or working to prevent it, Northwestern Medicine provides the comprehensive education and support you need. All members of the Northwestern Medicine diabetes education team are certified diabetes educators who are registered nurses or registered dietitians. Diabetes educators work closely with your physician to support your care.
You’ll also have:
- Easy access to registered nurses and dietitians to help you with lifestyle changes, meal planning and use of blood sugar meters and insulin pumps
- Individual assessments, group classes and self-management training
- Nutrition counseling
- Connections to endocrinologists with advanced training in diabetes care
Types of diabetes
When you have diabetes, your body has a problem turning sugar (glucose) from food into energy. A hormone called insulin helps your cells absorb glucose. In diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use insulin as it should. Diabetes can take several forms:
- Type 1 diabetes: When your body loses the ability to make insulin; this type of diabetes usually begins during childhood or adolescence
- Type 2 diabetes: When your body develops a resistance to the action of insulin and can’t make enough insulin to overcome this resistance
- Pre-diabetes: When your blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes
- Gestational diabetes: Diabetes that begins during pregnancy
- Pediatric diabetes: Type 1 or type 2 diabetes affecting children
Prevention is possible
Knowledge is the key to prevention. By getting the facts, understanding your risks and making healthy lifestyle changes, you can help prevent type 2 diabetes. Even small steps can make a big difference to your health. Estimate your personal risk for developing diabetes, with our Diabetes Risk Profiler. Learn about risks for diabetes from the American Diabetes Association. Based on your risk, consider the CDC's diabetes prevention program offered locally.
Learn more about managing diabetes and diabetes education.
Meet the Teams

More Information
Related Resources
Downloads
- Diabetes Overview: Overview of "What is Diabetes" on how to best work with your NMPG physician to manage your diabetes. All newly diagnosed diabetics should start with this document and share with those helping you.
- Family and Friends Pact: Guide to having a good conversation with your family and friends about how best to support your process of dealing with diabetes. Post this on your fridge as a good reminder of your family's commitment of support.
- Travel Tips for Diabetics: Review of what special things diabetics should think about when traveling. Keep it handy in your luggage as a reminder of what to do when you travel.
- Know Your Numbers: Learn the importance of following your “HbA1C” lab value, which is tracked to help measure your diabetes control. Keeping your HbA1C under 7.0 is ideal.
- Diabetes Wallet Card: Informational card to keep in your wallet with diabetes care guidelines and name of your physician.
- Pre-Appointment Form: Medical history health assessment form for diabetes and nutrition counseling.
- Diabetes Meal Planning Brochure: Learn how to make your meal plan healthier. English | Polish | Russian | Spanish
- Metformin Brochure: Learn important information about this medication.
- Oral Hypoglycemic Agents Brochure: Learn important information about this medication.
- Diabetes Program Questionnaire: Complete if you have diabetes
- Gestational Diabetes Questionnaire: Complete if you have gestational diabetes
- Food Record Form
Related Websites
- For a comprehensive overview of diabetes, as well as extensive links for additional education, visit Diabetes Type 1 Overview or Diabetes Type 2 Overview
- How the Circadian Clock Controls Insulin and Blood Sugar Regulation in the Pancreas
- Data Mining DNA for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Genes
- Andrea Dunaif, MD, Charles F. Kettering Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and M. Geoffrey Hayes, PhD, assistant professor in endocrinology, have led the first study of its kind to investigate Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in the genomes of women of European ancestry. PCOS affects 7 to 10 percent of women and there is no FDA-approved treatment or cure.