What Is Meant By Type 2 Diabetes?

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.

What Is Type 2 Diabetes

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.

Which is worse type1 or type2 diabetes?

Is one type of diabetes worse than the other? No. People with either type of diabetes are at risk for cardiac events if the condition is not well managed, as well as for other complications including eye disease and blood vessel damage.

What’s worse type 1 or 2 diabetes?

Which type of diabetes is the worst? – Type 1 diabetes is considered worse than type 2 because it is an autoimmune disease, so there isn’t a cure. Also, in a 2010 report⁴ from the UK, it’s estimated that the life expectancy of people with type 2 diabetes can be reduced by up to 10 years, while type 1 can reduce life expectancy by 20 years or more.

What is the biggest cause of type 2 diabetes?

Type 2 Diabetes Causes and Risk Factors Although not everyone with is, obesity and an inactive lifestyle are two of the most common causes of, These things are responsible for about 90% to 95% of cases in the United States. When you’re healthy, your (an organ behind your ) releases insulin to help your body store and use from the food you eat.

• Your pancreas doesn’t make any insulin.
• Your makes very little insulin.
• Your body doesn’t respond the way it should to insulin

Unlike people with, people with make insulin. But the insulin their pancreas releases isn’t enough, or their body can’t recognize the insulin and use it properly. (Doctors call this insulin resistance.) When there isn’t enough insulin or the insulin isn’t used as it should be, glucose (sugar) can’t get into your cells.

1. It builds up in your bloodstream instead.
2. This can damage many areas of the body.
3. Also, since cells aren’t getting the glucose they need, they don’t work the way they should.
4. Is believed to have a strong genetic link, meaning that it tends to run in families.
5. If you have a parent, brother, or sister who has it, your chances rise.

Several genes may be related to type 2 diabetes. Ask your doctor about a diabetes test if you have any of the following risk factors:

• High blood (fat) levels. It’s too high if it’s over 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
• Low “good” level. It’s too low if it’s less than 40 mg/dL.
• or to a weighing more than 9 pounds
• . That means your level is above normal, but you don’t have the disease yet.
• High- and diet. This can sometimes be the result of food insecurity, when you don’t have access to enough healthy food.
• High intake
• Sedentary lifestyle
• or being overweight
• (PCOS)
• Being of an ethnicity that’s at higher risk: African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans are more likely to get type 2 diabetes than non-Hispanic whites.
• You’re over 45 years of age. Older age is a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The risk of type 2 diabetes begins to rise significantly around age 45 and rises considerably after age 65.
• You’ve had an, After an organ transplant, you need to take for the rest of your life so your body doesn’t reject the donor organ. These drugs help organ transplants succeed, but many of them, such as (Astagraf, ) or, can cause diabetes or make it worse.

A proper and healthy lifestyle habits, along with medication, if you need it, can help you manage type 2 diabetes the same way you manage other areas of your life. Be sure to seek the latest information on this condition as you become your own health advocate.

• To understand why insulin is important, it helps to know more about how your body uses food for energy.
• Your body is made up of millions of cells.
• To make energy, these cells need food in a very simple form.
• When you eat or drink, much of the food is broken down into a simple sugar called glucose.
• It moves through your bloodstream to these cells, where it provides the energy your body needs for daily activities.

Insulin and other hormones control the amount of glucose in your bloodstream. Your pancreas is always releasing small amounts of insulin. When the amount of glucose in your rises to a certain level, the pancreas will release more insulin to push more glucose into the cells.

• This causes the glucose levels in the blood (blood glucose levels) to drop.
• To keep blood glucose levels from getting too low (, or ), your body signals you to eat and releases some glucose from the stores kept in the,
• It also tells the body to release less insulin.
• People with diabetes either don’t make insulin or their body’s cells can no longer use their insulin.

This leads to high blood sugars. By definition, diabetes is:

• A blood glucose level of greater than or equal to 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) of blood after an 8-hour fast (not eating anything)
• A non- glucose level greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL, along with
• A glucose level greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL on a 2-hour glucose tolerance test

A1c greater than or equal to 6.5%. Unless the person is having obvious symptoms of diabetes or is in a, the diagnosis must be confirmed with a repeat test.

• SOURCES:
• American Diabetes Association: “Insulin and Low Blood Glucose.”
• American Diabetes Association: “Stomach Fat and Insulin Resistance.”
• National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse: “Your Guide to Diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2.”
• Diabetologia : “The threshold for diagnosing impaired fasting glucose: a position statement by the European Diabetes Epidemiology Group.”
• Journal of the American College of Cardiology : “Comparison of the 1997 and 2003 American Diabetes Association Classification of Impaired Fasting Glucose: Impact on Prevalence of Impaired Fasting Glucose, Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors, and Coronary Heart Disease in a Community-Based Medical Practice.”
• American Diabetes Association (ADA): “Type 2 Diabetes,” “Diabetes Risk Test.”
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: “Framingham Heart Study.”

Diabetes Care : “Obesity, inactivity, and the prevalence of diabetes and diabetes-related cardiovascular comorbidities in the U.S., 2000-2002.”

1. The New England Journal of Medicine : “A Toggle for Type 2 Diabetes?”
2. Lancet : “Type 2 diabetes: principles of pathogenesis and therapy.”
3. Circulation : “Trends in the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus From the 1970s to the 1990s: The Framingham Heart Study.”
4. CDC: “About Chronic Disease.”
5. Feeding America: “Child Nutrition Programs.”
6. Food Research and Action Center: “Hunger & Health: The Impact of Poverty, Food Insecurity, and Poor Nutrition on Health and Well-Being.”
7. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: “Food Insecurity.”

U.S. Department of Agriculture: “Food Security in the U.S.: Measurement,” “Definitions of Food Insecurity.”

• National Kidney Foundation website.
• United Network for Organ Sharing website.
• United Network for Organ Sharing’s “Transplant Living” website.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: “Partnering with Your Transplant Team: The Patient’s Guide to Transplantation, 2004.” Bihl, G. Dialysis and Transplantation, 2004. Carithers, R. Liver and Pancreas Transplantation, ACP Medicine, November 2003.

Does type 1 diabetes need insulin?

Managing Diabetes – Unlike many health conditions, diabetes is managed mostly by you, with support from your health care team:

Primary care doctor Foot doctor Dentist Eye doctor Registered dietitian nutritionist Diabetes educator Pharmacist

Also ask your family, teachers, and other important people in your life for help and support. Managing diabetes can be challenging, but everything you do to improve your health is worth it! If you have type 1 diabetes, you’ll need to take insulin shots (or wear an insulin pump) every day.

Insulin is needed to manage your blood sugar levels and give your body energy. You can’t take insulin as a pill. That’s because the acid in your stomach would destroy it before it could get into your bloodstream. Your doctor will work with you to figure out the most effective type and dosage of insulin for you.

You’ll also need to do regular blood sugar checks, Ask your doctor how often you should check it and what your target blood sugar levels should be. Keeping your blood sugar levels as close to target as possible will help you prevent or delay diabetes-related complications,

1. Stress is a part of life, but it can make managing diabetes harder.
2. Both managing your blood sugar levels and dealing with daily diabetes care can be tougher to do.
3. Regular physical activity, getting enough sleep, and exercises to relax can help.
4. Talk to your doctor and diabetes educator about these and other ways you can manage stress.

Healthy lifestyle habits are really important too:

Making healthy food choices Being physically active Controlling your blood pressure Controlling your cholesterol

Make regular appointments with your health care team. They’ll help you stay on track with your treatment plan and offer new ideas and strategies if needed.