Overview – Type 2 diabetes is an impairment in the way the body regulates and uses sugar (glucose) as a fuel. This long-term (chronic) condition results in too much sugar circulating in the bloodstream. Eventually, high blood sugar levels can lead to disorders of the circulatory, nervous and immune systems.
In type 2 diabetes, there are primarily two interrelated problems at work. Your pancreas does not produce enough insulin — a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your cells — and cells respond poorly to insulin and take in less sugar. Type 2 diabetes used to be known as adult-onset diabetes, but both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can begin during childhood and adulthood.
Type 2 is more common in older adults, but the increase in the number of children with obesity has led to more cases of type 2 diabetes in younger people. There’s no cure for type 2 diabetes, but losing weight, eating well and exercising can help you manage the disease.
Is there any way to cure type 2 diabetes?
Is there a cure for type 2 diabetes? – There’s no cure yet, but our scientists are working on a ground-breaking weight management study, to help people put their type 2 diabetes into remission, Remission is when blood glucose (or blood sugar) levels are in a normal range again.
- This doesn’t mean diabetes has gone for good.
- It’s still really important for people in remission to get regular healthcare checks.
- But being in remission can be life changing.
- Our ground-breaking study is called DiRECT, short for Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial, and it could completely change the way type 2 diabetes is treated in the future.
Latest on our low-calorie DiRECT study
How long can a type 2 diabetes live?
Life expectancy can be increased by 3 years or in some cases as much as 10 years. At age 50, life expectancy- the number of years a person is expected to live- is 6 years shorter for people with type 2 diabetes than for people without it. People with type 2 diabetes can reduce their risk of complications and live longer by achieving their treatment goals.
What foods should I avoid with type 2 diabetes?
3. Cut down on red and processed meat – Having more red and processed meats like bacon, ham, sausages, pork, beef and lamb are all associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. They also have links to heart problems and certain types of cancer. Try to get your protein from healthier foods like:
pulses such as beans and lentilseggsfish chicken and turkey unsalted nuts
Fish is really good for us and oily fish like salmon and mackerel are rich in omega-3 oil which helps protect your heart. Try to have at least one portion of oily fish each week and one portion of white fish. Becoming educated on food labelling, which appears on all food packets was massive benefit as we were able to identify highly processed foods and those with high levels of sugar, fat and salt which has helped us make much healthier food choices.
Can you live a normal life with diabetes type 2?
Type 2 diabetes can have serious health implications that can affect life expectancy. However, with management, many people with diabetes can live long lives. When a person gets a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, they may wonder how it will affect the length of their life.
- The impact on life expectancy depends on various factors, such as how soon a person receives a diagnosis and treatment, and how well they and their healthcare team manage the condition.
- Other influential factors include symptom severity and progression, the appearance of complications, and the body’s response to treatment.
This article will examine the factors that influence life expectancy with type 2 diabetes and how to maximize it.
Is type 2 diabetes caused by poor diet?
Can diabetes be prevented or avoided? – Talk to your doctor about your risk factors for diabetes. Although you may not be able to change all of them, you can make changes to significantly lower your risk.
Exercise and weight control. Exercising and maintaining a healthy weight can reduce your risk of diabetes. Any amount of activity is better than none. Try to exercise for 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week. Always talk with your doctor before starting an exercise program. Diet. A diet high in fat, calories, and cholesterol increases your risk of diabetes. A poor diet can lead to obesity (another risk factor for diabetes) and other health problems. A healthy diet is high in fiber and low in fat, cholesterol, salt, and sugar. Also, remember to watch your portion size. How much you eat is just as important as what you eat.
The single most important thing you can do is control your blood sugar level. You can do this by eating right, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and, if needed, taking oral medicines or insulin.
Diet. Your diet should include lots of complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains), fruits, and vegetables. It’s important to eat at least 3 meals per day and never skip a meal. Eat at about the same time every day. This helps keep your insulin or medicine and sugar levels steady. Avoid empty calories, such as foods high in sugar and fat, or alcohol. Exercise. Exercising helps your body use insulin and lower your blood sugar level. It also helps control your weight, gives you more energy, and is good for your overall health. Exercise also is good for your heart, your cholesterol levels, your blood pressure, and your weight. These are all factors that can affect your risk of heart attack and stroke, Talk with your doctor about starting an exercise program. Maintain a healthy weight. Losing excess weight and maintaining a healthy body weight will help you in 2 ways. First, it helps insulin work better in your body. Second, it will lower your blood pressure and decrease your risk for heart disease. Take your medicine. If your diabetes can’t be controlled with diet, exercise, and weight control, your doctor may recommend medicine or insulin. Most people who have type 2 diabetes start with an oral medicine (taken by mouth). Oral medicines can make your body produce more insulin. They also help your body use the insulin it makes more efficiently. Some people need to add insulin to their bodies with insulin injections, insulin pens, or insulin pumps. Always take medicines exactly as your doctor prescribes. Oral medicine doesn’t work for everyone. It isn’t effective in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Insulin therapy is necessary for all people who have type 1 diabetes and for some people who have type 2 diabetes. If you need insulin, you’ll have to give yourself a shot (either with a syringe or with an insulin pen). Your doctor will tell you which kind of medicine you should take and why.
Your doctor will test your blood sugar every 3 months with an A1C test. Your doctor may ask you to test your blood sugar on your own throughout the day if you are taking insulin or they are adjusting your medication. You will need to use a blood glucose monitor to check it on your own.
This involves pricking your finger for blood and putting a test strip in the blood. Putting the test strip in the monitor gets the results. Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) are also an option to help people with diabetes measure their blood glucose around the clock If your blood sugar gets too low, you might feel tired, experience problems with muscle coordination, sweat, have difficulty thinking or speaking clearly, twitch, feel like you’re going to faint, become pale, lose consciousness, or have a seizure.
At the earliest sign of any of these symptoms, eat or drink something that will raise your blood sugar fast. This could include candy, juice, milk, or raisins. If you don’t feel better in 15 minutes or if monitoring shows that your blood sugar level is still too low, eat or drink another item to raise your blood sugar fast.
Always keep a supply of these items on hand for emergencies. You may not know if your blood sugar is too high unless you test it yourself. However, you may experience common symptoms such as frequent urination, extreme thirst, blurry vision, and feeling tired. Some factors unrelated to food can make your blood sugar high.
This includes not taking your insulin correctly, overeating at a meal, illness, having hormonal changes, and stress. If your blood sugar level is too high and you take insulin, you may need to take an extra dose of rapid- or short-acting insulin to return it to normal.
- Your doctor can tell you how much insulin you need to take to lower your blood sugar level.
- You can live a normal life with well-controlled diabetes.
- However, you have to pay attention to your diet, weight, exercise, and medicine.
- If you don’t control your diabetes, you will have too much glucose in your blood.
This can lead to serious health problems, including heart disease and damage to the nerves and kidneys. These are known as diabetic complications. Complications include:
Diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage). This makes it hard for your nerves to send messages to your brain and other parts of the body. You may lose feeling in parts of your body or have a painful, tingling, or burning feeling. Neuropathy most often affects the feet and legs. If you have neuropathy, you may not be able to feel a sore on your foot. The sore can become infected. In serious cases, the foot may have to be amputated (removed). People who have neuropathy may continue walking on a foot that has damaged joints or bones. This can lead to a condition called Charcot foot. Charcot foot causes swelling and instability in the injured foot. It can also cause the foot to become deformed. However, this problem can often be avoided. Check your feet every day. See your doctor immediately if you see swelling, redness, and feel warmth in your foot. These can be signs of Charcot foot. Your doctor should check your feet frequently, too. Neuropathy also can cause erectile dysfunction in men and vaginal dryness in women. Diabetic retinopathy (eye problems). This affects the part of your eye called the retina. It’s the part of the eye that is sensitive to light and sends messages to your brain about what you see. Diabetes can damage and weaken the small blood vessels in the retina. When the blood vessels of your retina are damaged, fluid can leak from them and cause swelling in your macula. The macula is the part of the retina that gives you sharp, clear vision. Swelling and fluid can cause blurry vision. This makes it hard for you to see. If retinopathy gets worse, it may lead to blindness. Laser surgery can often be used to treat or slow down retinopathy if found early. People who have diabetes should have an eye exam once a year. See your doctor if you have blurry vision for more than 2 days, sudden loss of vision in 1 or both eyes, black or moving gray spots often called “floaters,” flashing lights, or pain or pressure in your eyes. Diabetic nephropathy (kidney damage). This is damage to the blood vessels in your kidneys. This means your kidneys have trouble filtering out waste. Some people who have nephropathy will eventually need dialysis (a machine treatment that eliminates waste from the blood) or a kidney transplant. The risk for nephropathy is increased if you have both diabetes and high blood pressure, so it’s important to control both of these conditions. Protein in the urine is usually the first sign of nephropathy. This should be checked yearly. Heart disease and stroke. People who have diabetes are at greater risk for heart disease and stroke, The risk is even greater for people who have diabetes and smoke, have high blood pressure, have a family history of heart disease, or are overweight. Heart disease is easiest to treat when it’s caught early. It’s very important to see your doctor on a regular basis. He or she can test for early signs of heart disease. This includes checking cholesterol levels. If your cholesterol is higher than the recommended level, your doctor will talk to you about lifestyle changes and medicine to help get your cholesterol under control.
The longer your diabetes is uncontrolled, the more damage you do to your health. That’s why treatment is important at any age. Keeping blood sugar levels very close to the ideal can minimize, delay, and in some cases even prevent the problems that diabetes can cause.
What is the new diabetes treatment 2022?
– As a physician-scientist, Dr. Mark Anderson, PhD, head of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Diabetes Center, told Healthline that, while he does see adult clinical patients, his main focus is on research on “why diabetes happens,” with a particular focus on type 1.
- I’m more of an immunologist than an endocrinologist because type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, where the immune system makes a mistake and kills the cells that make insulin in the pancreas, so this takes up a lot of my attention,” he said.
- To that point, the biggest diabetes moment of 2022 for Anderson was the recent FDA approval of a new drug that can delay the onset of type 1 diabetes.
Anderson said this announcement was “a huge deal.” The drug, teplizumab-mzwv, goes by the name Tzield. It’s an injection aimed to delay the onset of stage 3 type 1 diabetes in adults in addition to pediatric patients who are eight years and older who have stage 2 type 1 diabetes, according to the FDA’s press release,
If you have type 1 diabetes, it means that you will need regular insulin infusions or wear an insulin pump on your body. It requires vigilance, routinely checking your blood glucose levels. The condition is generally diagnosed in young adults and children, but you might be at higher risk if you have a sibling or a parent with the condition.
That being said, many people who live with this condition don’t have a family history of it at all, the FDA reports. This newly approved medication bonds to specific immune cells, putting off the progression of the disease. It could even deactivate immune cells that fight your cells that generate insulin, as well as create more cells that assist with immune response moderation.