Diabetes Type 2
From WebMD.com
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Diabetes is a life-long disease that affects the way your body handles glucose, a kind of sugar, in your blood.
Most people with the condition have type 2. There are about 27 million people in the U.S. with it. Another 86 million have prediabetes: Their blood glucose is not normal, but not high enough to be diabetes yet. What Causes Diabetes? Your pancreas makes a hormone called insulin. It's what lets your cells turn glucose from the food you eat into energy. People with type 2 diabetes make insulin, but their cells don't use it as well as they should. Doctors call this insulin resistance. |
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At first, the pancreas makes more insulin to try to get glucose into the cells. But eventually it can't keep up, and the sugar builds up in your blood instead.
Usually a combination of things cause type 2 diabetes, including:
Genes. Scientists have found different bits of DNA that affect how your body makes insulin.
Extra weight. Being overweight or obese can cause insulin resistance, especially if you carry your extra pounds around the middle. Now type 2 diabetes affects kids and teens as well as adults, mainly because ofchildhood obesity.
Metabolic syndrome. People with insulin resistance often have a group of conditions including high blood glucose, extra fat around the waist,high blood pressure, and high cholesterol and triglycerides.
Too much glucose from your liver. When your blood sugar is low, your liver makes and sends out glucose. After you eat, your blood sugar goes up, and usually the liver will slow down and store its glucose for later. But some people's livers don't. They keep cranking out sugar.
Bad communication between cells. Sometimes cells send the wrong signals or don't pick up messages correctly. When these problems affect how your cells make and use insulin or glucose, a chain reaction can lead to diabetes.
Broken beta cells. If the cells that make the insulin send out the wrong amount of insulin at the wrong time, your blood sugar gets thrown off. High blood glucose can damage these cells, too.
Usually a combination of things cause type 2 diabetes, including:
Genes. Scientists have found different bits of DNA that affect how your body makes insulin.
Extra weight. Being overweight or obese can cause insulin resistance, especially if you carry your extra pounds around the middle. Now type 2 diabetes affects kids and teens as well as adults, mainly because ofchildhood obesity.
Metabolic syndrome. People with insulin resistance often have a group of conditions including high blood glucose, extra fat around the waist,high blood pressure, and high cholesterol and triglycerides.
Too much glucose from your liver. When your blood sugar is low, your liver makes and sends out glucose. After you eat, your blood sugar goes up, and usually the liver will slow down and store its glucose for later. But some people's livers don't. They keep cranking out sugar.
Bad communication between cells. Sometimes cells send the wrong signals or don't pick up messages correctly. When these problems affect how your cells make and use insulin or glucose, a chain reaction can lead to diabetes.
Broken beta cells. If the cells that make the insulin send out the wrong amount of insulin at the wrong time, your blood sugar gets thrown off. High blood glucose can damage these cells, too.
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Risk Factors and Prevention
While certain things make getting diabetes more likely, they won't give you the disease. But the more that apply to you, the higher your chances of getting it are. Some things you can't control.
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Some things are related to your health and medical history. Your doctor may be able to help.
- Prediabetes
- Heart and blood vessel disease
- High blood pressure, even if it's treated and under control
- Low HDL ("good") cholesterol
- High triglycerides
- Being overweight or obese
- Having a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds
- Having gestational diabetes while you were pregnant
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
- Acanthosis nigricans, a skin condition with dark rashes around your neck or armpits
- Depression
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Because you can't change what happened in the past, focus on what you can do now and going forward. Take medications and follow your doctor's suggestions to be healthy. Simple changes at home can make a big difference, too.
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Symptoms
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes can be so mild you don't notice them. In fact, about 8 million people who have it don't know it.
Getting a Diagnosis
Your doctor can test your blood for signs of diabetes. Usually doctors will test you on two different days to confirm the diagnosis. But if your blood glucose is very high or you have a lot of symptoms, one test may be all you need.
A1C: It's like an average of your blood glucose over the past 2 or 3 months.
Fasting plasma glucose: This measures your blood sugar on an empty stomach. You won't be able to eat or drink anything except water for 8 hours before the test.
Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT): This checks your blood glucose before and 2 hours after you drink a sweet drink to see how your body handles the sugar.
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes can be so mild you don't notice them. In fact, about 8 million people who have it don't know it.
- Being very thirsty
- Peeing a lot
- Blurry vision
- Being irritable
- Tingling or numbness in your hands or feet
- Feeling worn out
- Wounds that don't heal
- Yeast infections that keep coming back
Getting a Diagnosis
Your doctor can test your blood for signs of diabetes. Usually doctors will test you on two different days to confirm the diagnosis. But if your blood glucose is very high or you have a lot of symptoms, one test may be all you need.
A1C: It's like an average of your blood glucose over the past 2 or 3 months.
Fasting plasma glucose: This measures your blood sugar on an empty stomach. You won't be able to eat or drink anything except water for 8 hours before the test.
Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT): This checks your blood glucose before and 2 hours after you drink a sweet drink to see how your body handles the sugar.
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Long-Term Effects
Over time, high blood sugar can damage and cause problems with your:
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Diabetes Mellitus
From Home Remedies for you.com
Diabetes mellitus, better known to most of us simply as diabetes, refers to a group of metabolic disorders. If a person has high blood sugar, it is probably due to diabetes. Diabetes mellitus generally refers to the body’s inability to produce insulin that controls the release and absorption of sugar or glucose in the blood stream.
Persistent hyperglycemia refers to a state in which the blood sugar levels are consistently high, even during fasting. This is generally an effect of diabetes mellitus and is in fact the defining symptom of the disease.
Resistance to generated insulin or low insulin levels at the cellular level are generally the root cause of diabetes mellitus. Insulin is a hormone that facilitates the body’s conversion of glucose to energy producing glycogen. Resistance to the same can lead to difficulties in removal of excess glucose from the body. This in turn leads to high blood sugar levels. The human body only needs as much glucose as is required to meet its energy requirements.
Different types of diabetes are serially numbered and vary in terms of causes and treatments. For example, Type 1 diabetes results from the body's failure to produce insulin. Its treatment requires insulin injections into the blood stream. Type 2 diabetes on the other hand is a result of insulin resistance. In this case, cells either fail to use insulin properly or lack sufficient quantities of the same. Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age while Type 2 diabetes is generally an adult onset disease and develops gradually over a period of time.
A third type of diabetes is Gestational diabetes. This refers to a condition in which pregnant women experience an elevation in blood glucose levels during the gestation period. Such women have never been diagnosed with diabetes before.
Congenital diabetes is caused due to genetic defects of insulin secretion. Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes, various forms of monogenic diabetes are other types of diabetes primarily distinguished by the causes that lead to the conditions.
Persistent hyperglycemia refers to a state in which the blood sugar levels are consistently high, even during fasting. This is generally an effect of diabetes mellitus and is in fact the defining symptom of the disease.
Resistance to generated insulin or low insulin levels at the cellular level are generally the root cause of diabetes mellitus. Insulin is a hormone that facilitates the body’s conversion of glucose to energy producing glycogen. Resistance to the same can lead to difficulties in removal of excess glucose from the body. This in turn leads to high blood sugar levels. The human body only needs as much glucose as is required to meet its energy requirements.
Different types of diabetes are serially numbered and vary in terms of causes and treatments. For example, Type 1 diabetes results from the body's failure to produce insulin. Its treatment requires insulin injections into the blood stream. Type 2 diabetes on the other hand is a result of insulin resistance. In this case, cells either fail to use insulin properly or lack sufficient quantities of the same. Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age while Type 2 diabetes is generally an adult onset disease and develops gradually over a period of time.
A third type of diabetes is Gestational diabetes. This refers to a condition in which pregnant women experience an elevation in blood glucose levels during the gestation period. Such women have never been diagnosed with diabetes before.
Congenital diabetes is caused due to genetic defects of insulin secretion. Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes, various forms of monogenic diabetes are other types of diabetes primarily distinguished by the causes that lead to the conditions.
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Symptoms of Diabetes
The typical symptoms of high blood sugar are frequent urination, increased thirst and increased hunger. In most types of diabetes, the symptoms are likely to be similar to the symptoms of high blood sugar. The primary symptoms of Type 1 diabetes are nausea and vomiting. In type 1 diabetes, symptoms generally develop rather quickly. In type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, they develop at a much slower rate and could even be so subtle that they go unnoticed. Often in cases of early childhood illnesses such as urinary tract infections or viral infections, Type 1 diabetes is the diagnosis. In such cases, dehydration and changes in potassium levels in the blood often follow. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes are often confused with symptoms of obesity or ageing. Such symptoms include irritability, itchy skin, yeast infections, dry mouth and leg pain. |
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Some symptoms that are associated with diabetes mellitus as a group of diseases include:
To battle the high blood sugar levels, the body generates more insulin (if it is capable of doing so). A secondary effect of insulin is to induce hunger. This leads to increased hunger and thirst in diabetics.
Causes of Diabetes Mellitus
Type 1 diabetes is generally caused due to auto immune changes in the body whereas Type 2 diabetes is mostly caused by genetic defects. In type 1 diabetes, the body attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Type 1 diabetes is generally more prevalent in men as compared to women.
Type 1 diabetes is also partly inherited. However, Type 1 diabetes generally needs a trigger such as an infection or something similar that aggravates the body’s reactions to insulin.
Steroids and stress are generally known to be causes of Type 2 diabetes other than inherited genetic defects.
- Fatigue
- Unexplained weight loss
- Poor wound healing
- Infections
- Altered mental status
- Blurry vision
To battle the high blood sugar levels, the body generates more insulin (if it is capable of doing so). A secondary effect of insulin is to induce hunger. This leads to increased hunger and thirst in diabetics.
Causes of Diabetes Mellitus
Type 1 diabetes is generally caused due to auto immune changes in the body whereas Type 2 diabetes is mostly caused by genetic defects. In type 1 diabetes, the body attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Type 1 diabetes is generally more prevalent in men as compared to women.
Type 1 diabetes is also partly inherited. However, Type 1 diabetes generally needs a trigger such as an infection or something similar that aggravates the body’s reactions to insulin.
Steroids and stress are generally known to be causes of Type 2 diabetes other than inherited genetic defects.
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Following is a comprehensive list of other factors that could contribute to the development or trigger the onset of diabetes:
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