Glucose or sugar is an essential source of fuel for your body. Type 2 diabetes affects the way your body metabolizes glucose. It used to be known as adult-onset diabetes. However, in recent years, the number of children diagnosed has risen with childhood obesity rates. As with other chronic conditions, diabetes must be managed appropriately to avoid irreversible issues later in life.
What Causes Diabetes?
Just as glucose is an important source of fuel, insulin is a hormone that helps regulate the movement of sugar into your cells. Insulin is produced in the pancreas gland. In type 2 diabetes, your body is resistant to insulin, or cannot produce enough insulin. Without insulin, too much glucose stays in your blood. If too much is in your blood, it begins to stick to the blood vessels and will eventually impede blood flow.
Many of the complications from diabetes take a while to develop. Heart disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, and eye damage are a few of the conditions diabetics are at risk for. Symptoms include frequent urination, increased thirst and hunger, fatigue, and blurred vision. Being overweight, genetics, and other environmental factors are possible causes.
What Increases Your Risk?
Some individuals will have a predisposition to developing diabetes due to family history or race. Other causes that raise your risks of developing diabetes are:
- Weight– You do not have to be overweight to develop diabetes but being overweight is a leading risk factor.
- PCOS– Insulin resistance is a cause of PCOS, so those diagnosed often develop diabetes if not managed.
- Inactivity– Physical activity helps manage your weight and uses up the glucose as energy allowing your body to use the insulin properly.
- Gestational Diabetes– Raises your chances of developing diabetes later down the road.
Life with Diabetes
Managing your diabetes involves monitoring your blood sugar levels, eating a diabetic-friendly diet, and keeping active. Individuals may be able to manage their diabetes through diet and exercise, but medications and insulin therapies are available if further intervention is needed.
Diabetes research continues to transform the way this condition is managed for the 1.5 million Americans diagnosed each year. The possibilities for less invasive and more cost-effective options are on the horizon. To learn more about how you can get involved in the diabetes research studies ActivMed is currently conducting at our Methuen, MA location, call (978) 655-7155, or visit us here.
References:
https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes/type-2
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20351199
https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/Diabetes-and-Your-Eyes-Heart-Nerves-Feet-and-Kidneys
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that affects the way your body metabolizes sugar, which is an important source of fuel for your body. With type 2 diabetes, your body either resists the effects of insulin — a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your cells — or doesn’t produce enough insulin to maintain normal glucose levels. Type 2 diabetes used to be known as adult-onset diabetes, but today more children are being diagnosed with the disorder, probably due to the rise in childhood obesity. There’s no cure for type 2 diabetes, but losing weight, eating well and exercising can help manage the disease.
Clinical Research
If your current treatment options don’t seem to be working for you, consider participating in a clinical research study. ActivMed Practices and Research is enrolling for a Type 2 Diabetes Study.
Learn more here and see if you are eligible to participate.
Symptoms
- Increased thirst
- Blurred vision
- Fatigue
- Slow-healing sores
- Frequent infections
- Frequent urination
- Areas of darkened skin, such as the armpits and neck
Tips for Management & Prevention
Healthy lifestyle choices can help prevent type 2 diabetes, and that’s true even if you have diabetes in your family. Some tips include:
- Eating healthy foods. Choose foods lower in fat and calories and higher in fiber. Focus on fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
- Getting active. Aim for a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity — or 15 to 30 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity — on most days. Take a brisk daily walk. Ride a bike. Swim laps. If you can’t fit in a long workout, spread your activity throughout the day.
- Losing weight. If you’re overweight, losing 5 to 10 percent of your body weight can reduce the risk of diabetes. To keep your weight in a healthy range, focus on permanent changes to your eating and exercise habits. Motivate yourself by remembering the benefits of losing weight, such as a healthier heart, more energy and improved self-esteem.
- Avoiding being sedentary for long periods. Sitting still for long periods can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes. Try to get up every 30 minutes and move around for at least a few minutes.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that affects the way the body processes glucose, a kind of sugar in your blood. It is the most common form of diabetes, with over 30 million people suffering from this condition in the United States alone.
If you have type 2 diabetes, your body may not use insulin properly, your body may not produce enough insulin, or insulin receptors may not be working correctly. While diabetes is a widespread disease, not everything you hear about the condition is true.
Myth: If you’re overweight, you will develop diabetes.
Fact: While being overweight is definitely a risk factor for developing diabetes, it’s not the only factor. Things like age and family history also play key roles. Many overweight people never develop diabetes and many people with diabetes are normal weight or slightly overweight.
Myth: Diabetes isn’t a very serious disease.
Fact: Diabetes nearly doubles your risk of having a heart attack. It also causes more deaths per year than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
Myth: You get diabetes by eating too much sugar.
Fact: Type 2 diabetes is caused by genetics and lifestyle factors. However, being overweight is a risk factor for developing diabetes and any diet high in calories will attribute to weight gain. The link between myth and fact here gets a little blurry because research has actually shown that drinking an abundance of sugary drinks or consuming larger amount of alcohol on a daily basis, is linked to in increases in glucose levels. The American Diabetes Association recommends that people should avoid intake of sugar-sweetened beverages to help prevent diabetes.
Myth: You’ll know if you have diabetes by your symptoms.
Fact: Type 2 diabetes often goes undiagnosed because it can have few or no symptoms, especially when it first develops. It is estimated that out of the 30 million people that suffer from type 2 diabetes, over 7 million are undiagnosed.
More than one in every 10 adults who are 20 years or older is struggling with type 2 diabetes. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a research study may be an option. ActivMed is currently seeking participants for several current and upcoming studies. Qualified candidates who participate will receive study-related care at no cost and receive compensation for travel. To learn more and see how you or someone you love may qualify for a study, click HERE.
