What Is Type 2 Diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong disease that prevents the body from using insulin as it should. People with type 2 diabetes are said to have insulin resistance. Middle-aged and older people are more likely to get this type of diabetes. It used to be called adult-onset diabetes. Type 2 diabetes also affects children and adolescents, mainly due to childhood obesity.
Type 2 diabetes is an alteration in the way the body regulates and uses sugar (glucose) for fuel. This long-term (chronic) condition causes excessive circulation of sugar in the blood. Eventually, high blood sugar can lead to circulatory, nervous, and immune disorders.
In type 2 diabetes, there are mainly two work-related problems. Your pancreas does now no longer produce sufficient insulin — a hormone that regulates the motion of sugar into your cells — and cells reply poorly to insulin and absorb much less sugar.
There’s no treatment for kind 2 diabetes, however dropping weight, consuming food well and exercise permit you to control the disease. If weight loss program and workouts are not sufficient to control your blood sugar, you could additionally want diabetes medicines or insulin therapy.
Signs and Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes can be so mild that you don’t notice them. About 8 million people who have it don’t know it. Symptoms include:
- Being very thirsty
- Peeing a lot
- Blurred vision
- Being irritable
- Tingling or numbness in hands or feet
- Tiredness/feeling tired
- Sores that won’t heal
- Yeast infections that come back
- Feeling hungry
- Losing weight without trying
- Getting more infections
Causes of Type 2 Diabetes
Your pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. Help your cells turn glucose, a type of sugar, from the foods you eat into energy. People with type 2 diabetes produce insulin, but their cells don’t use it as well as they should. At first, your pancreas produces more insulin to try to get glucose into the cells. Eventually it fails to keep up and glucose builds up in the blood instead.
Usually, a combination of things causes type 2 diabetes. They might include:
Genes
Scientists have discovered several DNA fragments that affect how your body produces insulin.
Extra Weight
Being overweight or obese can lead to insulin resistance, especially if you carry extra pounds around your belly.
Metabolic Syndrome
People with insulin resistance often suffer from a group of conditions such as high blood sugar, excess fat around the waist, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and low triglycerides.
Too Much Glucose from Your Liver
When your blood sugar is low, your liver produces and sends out glucose. After eating, your blood sugar rises, and your liver usually slows down and stores its glucose for later, but some people’s livers don’t. They continue to produce sugar.
Poor Communication Between Cells
Sometimes cells send the wrong signals or don’t pick up messages correctly. When these problems affect how cells make and use insulin or glucose, a chain reaction can lead to diabetes.
Broken Beta Cells
If insulin-producing cells send the wrong amount of insulin at the wrong time, blood sugar is kicked out. High blood sugar can also damage these cells.
How Insulin Works
Insulin is a hormone that comes from the gland behind and below the stomach (pancreas). Insulin regulates how the body uses sugar in the following way:
- Sugar in the blood causes the pancreas to secrete insulin.
- Insulin circulates in the blood, allowing sugar to enter cells.
- The amount of sugar in the blood drops.
- In response to this decrease, the pancreas releases less insulin.
The Role of Glucose
Glucose which is some sugar is a main source of energy for cells that make up muscles and other tissues. The use and regulation of glucose are as follows:
- Glucose comes from two main sources: food and the liver.
- Glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream, where it enters cells with the help of insulin.
- Your liver stores and produces glucose.
When the glucose levels are low, as when you have not eaten a little, the liver breaks with glycogen storage in glucose to keep your glucose level in a normal range.
In type 2 diabetes, this process does not work well. Instead of moving into cells, sugar builds up in the blood. As blood sugar rises, insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas release more insulin. Eventually, these cells deteriorate and can no longer produce enough insulin to meet the body’s needs.
Risk Factors
Factors that may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes include:
Weight
Being overweight or obese is a major risk.
Fat Distribution
Storing fat primarily in the abdomen, rather than the hips and thighs, indicates higher risk. The risk of type 2 diabetes increases if you are a man with a waist circumference greater than 40 inches (101.6 centimetres) or a woman taller than 35 inches (88.9 centimetres).
Inactivity
The less active you are, the greater the risk. Physical activity helps control weight, uses glucose for energy, and makes cells more sensitive to insulin.
Family History
The risk of type 2 diabetes increases if your parent or sibling has type 2 diabetes.
Race And Ethnicity
Although it’s not clear why, people of certain races and ethnicities, including blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians, and Pacific Islanders, are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than whites.
Blood Lipid Levels
An increased risk is associated with low levels of HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol, the “good” cholesterol, and high triglyceride levels.
Age
The risk of type 2 diabetes increases with age, especially after age 45.
Prediabetes
Prediabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. If left untreated, prediabetes often progresses to type 2 diabetes.
Pregnancy-Related Risks
The risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases if you developed gestational diabetes during pregnancy or if you gave birth to a baby that weighs more than 4 kilograms.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Polycystic ovary syndrome – a common condition characterized by irregular periods, excessive body hair and obesity – increases the risk of diabetes
Areas of dark skin, usually on the armpits and neck. This condition often indicates insulin resistance.
Complications
Type 2 diabetes affects many important organs, including the heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes, and kidneys. In addition, factors that increase the risk of diabetes are risk factors for other serious chronic diseases. Diabetes management and blood sugar control can reduce the risk of these complications or coexisting conditions (comorbidities).
Potential complications of diabetes and common comorbidities include:
Heart And Vascular Disease
Diabetes is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and narrowing of blood vessels (atherosclerosis).
Nerve Damage (Neuropathy) In the Limbs
High blood sugar over time can damage or destroy nerves, causing tingling, numbness, burning, pain, or possible loss of sensation that usually begins on the tips of the toes or fingers and gradually spreads upwards.
Other Nerve Damage
Damage to the nerves of the heart can contribute to irregular heart rhythms. Damage to the nerves in the digestive system can cause problems with nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, or constipation. For men, nerve damage can cause erectile dysfunction.
Kidney Disease
Diabetes can lead to chronic kidney disease or irreversible end-stage kidney disease, which may require dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Eye Damage
Diabetes increases the risk of serious eye diseases, such as cataracts and glaucoma, and can damage blood vessels in the retina, potentially leading to blindness.
Skin Diseases
Diabetes can make you more susceptible to skin problems, including bacterial and fungal infections.
Slow Healing
Left untreated, cuts and blisters can become serious infections that can heal poorly. Severe damage could require amputation of the toe, foot, or leg.
Hearing Impairment
Hearing problems are more common in people with diabetes.
Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea is common in people with type 2 diabetes. Obesity may be the main contributing factor to both conditions. It is unclear whether treating sleep apnea improves blood sugar control.
Dementia
Type 2 diabetes appears to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders that cause dementia. Poor blood sugar control is linked to faster decline in memory and other thinking skills.
Lifestyle Changes
You may be able to reach your target blood sugar level with diet and exercise alone.
Weight Loss
Losing excess pounds can help. While losing 5% of your body weight is a good thing, losing at least 7% and keeping it off seems like the ideal. This means that someone who weighs 180 pounds can alter their blood sugar levels by losing about 13 pounds. Weight loss can seem overwhelming, but portion control and eating healthy foods are a good place to start.
Healthy Eating
There is no specific diet for type 2 diabetes. A Registered Dietitian can teach you about carbohydrates and help you come up with a meal plan you can stick to.
Focus on:
- Eat fewer calories
- Cut down on refined carbs, especially sweets
- Add fruits and vegetables to your diet
- Eat more fibre
Exercise
Aim for 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity each day. You can walk, cycle, swim, or do anything else that gets your heart rate up. Pair it with strength training, like yoga or weightlifting. If you are on a blood sugar lowering medication, you may need a snack before a workout.
Monitor Your Blood Sugar
Depending on your treatment, particularly if you are taking insulin, your doctor will tell you if and how often you need to test your blood sugar.
Medication
If your lifestyle changes are not helping you achieve your target blood sugar levels, you may need medication. Some of the most common for type 2 diabetes include:
Metformin (Fortamet, Glucophage, Glumetza, Riomet)
This is usually the first drug used to treat type 2 diabetes. It reduces the amount of glucose produced by the liver and helps the body respond better to the insulin it produces.
Sulfonylureas
This group of drugs helps your body produce more insulin. They include glimepiride (Amaryl), glipizide (Glucotrol, Metaglip), and glyburide (DiaBeta, Micronase).
Meglitinides
They help your body produce more insulin and work faster than sulfonylureas. You can take nateglinide (Starlix) or repaglinide (Prandin).
Sulfonylureas
This group of drugs helps your body make more insulin. They include glimepiride (Amaryl), glipizide (Glucotrol, Metaglip), and glyburide (DiaBeta, Micronase).
Thiazolidinediones
Like metformin, they make you more sensitive to insulin. You could get pioglitazone (Actos) or rosiglitazone (Avandia). They also raise your risk of heart problems, so they aren’t usually a first choice for treatment.
Dpp-4 Inhibitors
These medications linagliptin (Tradjenta), saxagliptin (Onglyza), and sitagliptin (Januvia) help lower your blood sugar levels, but they can also cause joint pain and could inflame your pancreas.
Glp-1 Receptor Agonists
You take these medications with a needle to slow digestion and lower blood sugar levels. Some of the most common ones are exenatide (Byetta, Bydureon), liraglutide (Victoza), and semaglutide (Ozempic).
SGLT2 Inhibitors
These help your kidneys filter out more glucose. You might get canagliflozin (Invokana), dapagliflozin (Farxiga), or empagliflozin (Jardiance). Empagliflozin has also proven effective in reducing the risk of hospitalization or death from heart failure.
Insulin
You might take long-lasting shots at night, such as insulin detemir (Levemir) or insulin glargine (Lantus).
Conclusion
Even if you change your lifestyle and take your medicine as directed, your blood sugar may still get worse over time. That doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong. Diabetes is progressive, and many people eventually need more than one drug.
When you take more than one drug to control your type 2 diabetes, that’s called combination therapy. You and your doctor should work together to find the best mix for you. Usually, you’ll keep taking metformin and add something else.
