What are the risk factors for diabetes?
- Being obese or overweight.
- High blood pressure.
- Elevated levels of triglycerides and low levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL)
- Sedentary lifestyle.
- Family history.
- Increasing age.
- Polycystic ovary syndrome.
- Impaired glucose tolerance.
Eating too much sugar does not cause diabetes. Diabetes begins when something disrupts your body's ability to turn the food you eat into energy. SOURCES: WebMD Medical Reference: "Diabetes: Diabetes Basics," "Diabetes: Healthy Diet Basics," "Diabetes: Treating Diabetes with Insulin."
The pancreas is an organ located behind the lower part of the stomach, in front of the spine and plays an important part in diabetes. The pancreas is the organ which produces insulin, one the main hormones that helps to regulate blood glucose levels.
Glucose from the food gets into your bloodstream. Your pancreas makes a hormone called insulin (pronounced: IN-suh-lin). Insulin helps the glucose get into the body's cells. Your body gets the energy it needs.
Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Blood glucose is your main source of energy and comes from the food you eat. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps glucose from food get into your cells to be used for energy.
How is diabetes diagnosed? Diabetes is diagnosed with fasting sugar blood tests or with A1c blood tests, also known as glycated hemoglobin tests. A fasting blood sugar test is performed after you have had nothing to eat or drink for at least eight hours. Normal fasting blood sugar is less than 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/l).
People with type 1 diabetes don't produce insulin. You can think of it as not having a key. People with type 2 diabetes don't respond to insulin as well as they should and later in the disease often don't make enough insulin. You can think of it as having a broken key.
13 Ways to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
- Cut Sugar and Refined Carbs From Your Diet.
- Work Out Regularly.
- Drink Water as Your Primary Beverage.
- Lose Weight If You're Overweight or Obese.
- Quit Smoking.
- Follow a Very-Low-Carb Diet.
- Watch Portion Sizes.
- Avoid Sedentary Behaviors.
Age. Women older than age 25 are at increased risk. Family or personal history. Your risk increases if you have prediabetes — a precursor to type 2 diabetes — or if a close family member, such as a parent or sibling, has type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 DM is the culmination of lymphocytic infiltration and destruction of insulin-secreting beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. As beta-cell mass declines, insulin secretion decreases until the available insulin no longer is adequate to maintain normal blood glucose levels.
There's no cure for type 2 diabetes, but losing weight, eating well and exercising can help manage the disease. If diet and exercise aren't enough to manage your blood sugar well, you may also need diabetes medications or insulin therapy.
Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed using the: Glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test. This blood test indicates your average blood sugar level for the past two to three months. Normal levels are below 5.7 percent, and a result between 5.7 and 6.4 percent is considered prediabetes.
Like type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes is inherited. This means a group of genes that can lead to type 2 is passed down from mothers and fathers to their children. Not everyone who inherits the genes will develop it, but if you have the genes for type 2 diabetes, you've got a greater chance of developing it.
Common symptoms of diabetes:
- Urinating often.
- Feeling very thirsty.
- Feeling very hungry—even though you are eating.
- Extreme fatigue.
- Blurry vision.
- Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal.
- Weight loss—even though you are eating more (type 1)
- Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)
Type 2 diabetes has a stronger link to family history and lineage than type 1, and studies of twins have shown that genetics play a very strong role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Race can also play a role. Yet it also depends on environmental factors.
The pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus is characterized by peripheral insulin resistance, impaired regulation of hepatic glucose production, and declining β-cell function, eventually leading toβ -cell failure.
1. Diabetes isn't a serious disease. Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease. In fact, two out of three people with diabetes will die from cardiovascular-related episodes, such as a heart attack or stroke.
What is type 4 diabetes? Salk scientists use this to describe age-related insulin resistance that occurs in lean, elderly people.
Although there's no cure for type 2 diabetes, studies show it's possible for some people to reverse it. Through diet changes and weight loss, you may be able to reach and hold normal blood sugar levels without medication. This doesn't mean you're completely cured. Type 2 diabetes is an ongoing disease.
The AACE says that cardiometabolic risk factors — a person's chance of having diabetes, heart disease, or stroke — are reduced with 6 to 9 hours of sleep per night. According to the Diabetes Care analysis, the lowest type 2 diabetes risk occurs when a person gets 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.
What are the signs of end-of-life due to diabetes?
- using the bathroom frequently.
- increased drowsiness.
- infections.
- increased thirst.
- increased hunger.
- itching.
- weight loss.
- fatigue.
If your blood sugar level is too high, you may experience:
- Increased thirst.
- Frequent urination.
- Fatigue.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Shortness of breath.
- Stomach pain.
- Fruity breath odor.
- A very dry mouth.
Some of diabetes' effects on the brain aren't obvious right away, especially when they are related to high blood sugar. “With diabetes, you have an increased risk of damage to blood vessels over time, including damage to the small blood vessels in the brain. This damage affects the brain's white matter,” says Joseph C.
Type 2 diabetes is often milder than type 1. But it can still cause major health complications, especially in the tiny blood vessels in your kidneys, nerves, and eyes. Type 2 also raises your risk of heart disease and stroke.
However, there is good news – people with type 1 diabetes have been known to live for as long as over 85 years with the condition. As noted above, recent studies into life expectancy are showing significant improvement in life expectancy rates for people with type 1 diabetes born later in the 20th century.
