CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- November is Diabetes Awareness Month and the chronic disease remains one of the most common in the United States. According to the latest CDC data, approximately 38 million Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes. Of those 38 million people, one in six are diagnosed with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. That's about 16% of the population. Diabetes is a group of diseases that result in too much sugar in the blood. The most common forms are Type 1 and Type 2. "Type 2 diabetes is a complex metabolic health condition. when our body becomes very resistant to the insulin that the pancreas is producing," said Dr. Priyanka Majety, an endocrinologist at VCU Health. Type 1 diabetes is often diagnosed in younger patients when the pancreas is not producing enough insulin. One of the first symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes is thirst. "They're chugging water and despite that, they just will still feel thirsty and they have an increased frequency of urination that you go to the bathroom more often and they're more hungry," Majety said. "And in women, sometimes patients see that their menstrual cycles are irregular." Dr. Sheetal Bulchandani, an endocrinologist with Bon Secours in Petersburg treats 10-12 diabetic or pre-diabetic patients daily. She said in addition to medication, lifestyle choices play an extremely important role when it comes to both prevention and treatment. "One of the things would be healthy eating. so you know, eating a diet rich in fiber, low in carbohydrates or low in saturated fat, losing weight along with exercise," Bulchandani said. She adds knowledge is power and urges high-risk patients to get regular checkups. "It's very important that we catch this disease as early as possible and treat it as early as possible," Bulchandani said. Bulchandani said that 40-50 years ago, the only treatment options were pills and insulin and now there are eight different medications that work on different parts, different organs and different mechanisms that help to treat diabetes. "Some of these medications also, along with treating diabetes, reduce the risk of kidney disease, reduce the risk of stroke and sometimes help with weight loss as well," Bulchandani said.