Type 2 diabetes is a long-term condition that affects millions of people across the world.
It occurs when someone has high blood sugar levels because their body either isn’t making enough of a hormone called insulin, or the insulin it does make isn’t working properly.
Having a better understanding type 2 diabetes is really important to manage it effectively and improve your overall health and quality of life.
What is type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic condition that’s characterised by someone’s having high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia).
The process of converting sugar in the blood into energy is a really important one. Glucose is your body’s main source of energy and comes from the food you eat, mainly carbohydrates like bread and potatoes.
In order for glucose to be absorbed by your cells, your pancreas creates the hormone insulin. This hormone tells your body’s cells to absorb the glucose and use it as energy.
As someone with type 2 diabetes, the body can’t absorb glucose because their insulin isn’t working properly. This means:
- cells don’t use the glucose for energy
- unused glucose stays in bloodstream and builds up
- excess glucose can damage your arteries and lead to other complications.
Causes
There are several factors contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes, but the main causes are:
- Being overweight or living with obesity
- Waist measurement
- Amount of visceral fat - this is fat that’s stored around your organs like the liver or pancreas. This can affect people if they’re a healthy weigh, overweight or living with obesity.
There are also other reasons, that you can’t change, that put you at greater risk of getting type 2 diabetes. These include your age, your ethnicity and genetics.
Symptoms
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes are different from person to person and may develop gradually over time.
Common symptoms can include:
- feeling very thirsty
- feeling very tired
- urinating more often, particularly at night
- cuts or wounds taking longer to heal
- blurred eyesight
- losing weight without trying
- getting thrush repeatedly or itching around the penis or vagina
Diagnosis
Type 2 diabetes is often diagnosed through routine blood tests that check your blood sugar levels.
These blood tests are often referred to as Non fasting blood tests and test your HbA1c (your average blood glucose levels over two to three months).
You’ll usually get these results back after a few days and a healthcare professional will be able to diagnose you with diabetes.
Your healthcare provider may also want to perform additional tests to check your overall health and the presence of any complications.
Treating type 2 diabetes
Managing type 2 diabetes involves a combination of lifestyle changes, medications, and regular monitoring.
Treatment usually aims to keep your blood sugar levels controlled, prevent any complications and improve your overall health. However, for some people they’re able to put their type 2 diabetes into remission.
The main treatments for controlling your blood sugar levels are:
- healthy eating or improving your diet
- getting more exercise (this doesn’t have to mean vigorous exercise, but simply moving more)
- weight loss
- medication (like metformin or insulin)
Complications
High blood sugar levels over a long period of time can have an effect on other areas of your body. These are called diabetes complications, an can include:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Nerve damage (neuropathy)
- Kidney disease (nephropathy)
- Eye damage (retinopathy)
- Foot problems
- Skin conditions
Keeping your blood sugar, blood pressure and blood fats under control will really help reduce your risk of developing diabetes complications.
Prevention
While some risk factors for type 2 diabetes, such as genetics, cannot be changed, there are some steps you can take to reduce your risk like:
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet
- Get enough exercise
- Limit how much alcohol you drink
- Avoid or quit smoking