What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a medical illness that is generally characterized by persistently elevated blood sugar levels in an individual. Additionally, your body gets energy from food by absorbing glucose into your bloodstream.
It’s interesting to note that blood glucose only exists in the blood and does not enter human cells. Health issues and the risk also increase with an increase in blood glucose levels. Although there isn’t currently a definitive treatment for diabetes, you can manage your condition and maintain a healthy lifestyle with the right medical care. Diabetes can be also caused by a variety of factors, and there are numerous treatment options available.
During the time of 2015, some studies were done that found that around 30.3 million people or we can say 9.4% of the American population are going through Diabetes. It is also said that every one in four patients was unaware that they had this issue. When it comes to elderly people, one in four adults over 65 has an issue with Diabetes. There are various types of Diabetes that affect so many people and among that type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of the overall diabetic patient population.
Some common types of diabetes that affect many people at large include:
- Type 1 diabetes
- Type 2 diabetes
- Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes
- Monogenic diabetes
- Genetic diabetes
- Gestational diabetes
What is Type 2 Diabetes?
Initially, this type of diabetes was known as adult-onset diabetes and it is also a form of diabetes mellitus. You can further characterize this illness by the persistent issue of high blood sugar, relative lack of insulin along with insulin resistance. Additionally, obesity and genetics are usually the prime reasons for Type 2 diabetes to occur in patients. With normal lifestyle changes and also medication, you can largely prevent diabetes. The increasing rate of obesity is running parallel with type 2 diabetes since 1960. Diabetes typically starts during middle and old age. Also, the rates of Type 2 Diabetes among young people is increasing. People who have this type of diabetes have a ten-year-shorter life expectancy than non-diabetic people.
What are the signs of Type 2 Diabetes?
The main symptoms that people with Type 2 Diabetes show are as follows:
- Increase in thirst
- Frequent urination
- Sudden weight loss
- Blurry vision
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Itchiness
- Fatigue
- Lethargy
- Stupor
- Breath smells like acetone
- Hyper-ventilation breathing
- Nausea
- Low level of consciousness
- Abdominal pain
- Vomiting
- Low blood pressure
- Frequent vaginal infections
- Loss of taste
What are the causes of Type 2 Diabetes?
Type 2 Diabetes generally occurs because of a lack of physical activity and obesity but there are other factors that can also cause this type of diabetes in someone. The other reasons that can also cause Type 2 Diabetes are as follows:
- Family history
- Poor diet and lifestyle
- Aging
- Psychological stress
- Urbanization
- Having a high waist-hip ratio
- Smoking
- Lack of sleep
- Changes in glucose metabolism
- Nervous system activity changes
- Hormonal changes
- Consumption of drinks that contains sweetened sugar in heavy amounts
- Taking certain dietary factors
- Eating a lot of white rice
- Certain cancer types
- Gestational diabetes
- Hyperthyroidism
- Glucagonomas
- Cushing’s syndrome
- Pheochromocytoma
- Exposure to persistent organic pollutants
- Eating disorders
Medications that also lead to Type 2 diabetes include:
- Statins
- Atypical antipsychotics
- Beta-blockers
- Thiazides
- Glucocorticoids
What is the health complication related to Type 2 Diabetes?
Type 2 Diabetes can also cause long-term complications like:
- Heart disease
- Consistent high blood sugar
- Brain stroke
- Blindness
- Diabetic retinopathy
- Kidney failure
- Hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state
- Poor blood flow in limbs
- Ketoacidosis
- Ten-year-shorter life expectancy
- Ischemic heart disease
- An increasing rate of hospitalization chances
- Kidney failure
- Cognitive dysfunction
- Dementia
- Acanthosis nigricans)
- Sexual impotency
- Frequent infections
- Vascular dementia
- Mild hearing loss
What are the treatment methods for Type 2 Diabetes?
Managing weight and getting into physical activities are primary methods to prevent this condition to get worsen but there are other treatment methods that also help to treat Type 2 Diabetes as follows:
- Frequent and regular blood sugar monitoring
- Weight loss
- You should do regular exercise
- Going under Insulin therapy
- People with extreme obesity issues also go through weight-loss surgery
- Taking a smaller portion of meals instead of heavy big meals
- Regularly scheduling your meals
- Additionally, you should include more high-fiber foods
- Also, you should avoid foods that are high in starch
- Also, consume nonstarchy vegetables and whole grains
- You should consume fewer refined grains during meals
- Eat low-fat meats, fish, or dairy products also in moderate amount
- Switching to olive or canola oil during cooking
- Moreover, maintain and eat fewer calories
- Also, keeping a check on your carbohydrate intake
- It is advisable to also go for aerobic and resistance-type exercises
Medications that your doctor may suggest for Type 2 Diabetes treatment are:
- Metformin
- Glinides
- Sulfonylureas
- Thiazolidinediones
- DPP-4 inhibitors
- GLP-1 receptor agonists
- SGLT2 inhibitors
Conclusion
Diabetes is a medical illness that is generally characterized by persistently elevated blood sugar levels in an individual. Moreover, according to studies done in 2015, around 30.3 million people or we can say 9.4% of the American population are going through Diabetes. There are various types of Diabetes that affect so many people and among that type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of the overall diabetic patient population.
Initially, this type of diabetes was known as adult-onset diabetes and it is also a form of diabetes mellitus. You can further characterize this illness by the persistent issue of high blood sugar, relative lack of insulin along with insulin resistance. Type 2 Diabetes generally occurs because of a lack of physical activity and obesity but there are other factors that can also cause this type of diabetes in someone. Managing weight and getting into physical activities are primary methods to prevent this condition to get worsen but there are other treatment methods that also help to treat Type 2 Diabetes.
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