What is Type Two Diabetes?

To answer the question, what is type two diabetes, let’s delve on the stats first. There are about 1.4 million new cases of diabetes in the United States annually; and according to researchers, the numbers are actually increasing every year. As a matter of fact, 9% of the world’s population had diabetes just a few years back according to the estimation of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2015, an estimated 400 million people worldwide were diagnosed with what is type two diabetes. In this article, you’ll learn what is type two diabetes and other important facts about this disease.

What is type two diabetes has been recognized as one of the deadliest diseases known to human existence. However, what a lot of people don’t know is that Type II diabetes accounts for 90% out of the 400 million people diagnosed worldwide.

5 Million Deaths

That statistic only means one thing – many people are diagnosed with what is type two diabetes more than Type 1 diabetes both in the U.S. and around the world. According to WHO, Type II diabetes causes about 5 million deaths per year and by 2030 that number is expected to double or triple ranking it as the 7^th major cause of death worldwide.

Type II diabetes is one of the root causes that promotes complications which eventually leads to cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, hypoglycemia, kidney failure, liver, pancreatic and gastric conditions, stroke, blindness, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.

What is type two diabetes is becoming increasingly common among young people. Although the condition is still more prevalent with seniors (65 years and above), many young people (around 20 years and up) are now being diagnosed with this specific disease and also contributing to that huge percentage every year.  Type II diabetes is also common in middle – income or developing countries particularly in Asia where urbanization are rapidly changing lifestyle and food choices.

Diabetes Mellitus is still one of the most common medical syndromes that people face today. This condition has a classification of two types, there’s Type 1 diabetes and Type II diabetes. Type 1 is basically a syndrome in which the pancreatic cells that produce insulin are almost completely wiped out; type II is usually a dysfunction of these cells, to the point where the cells are no longer able to produce insulin that is effective in reducing glucose in the plasma.

Reasons for Type I Diabetes

The reasons for having type I diabetes are usually immune – mediated or in other words, your body’s immune system attacks the pancreas itself, and so the cells that produce insulin are no longer able to produce insulin. For type II diabetes, it is usually weight – related or genetically – related issue; people who have a family history of the diseases usually have a higher instance of diabetes which is related to type II.

People who were diagnosed with what is type two diabetes require medication, however, with type 1 diabetes, medication starts almost immediately. Most people don’t usually see any signs of symptoms, and if ever there’s any, the symptoms are often very subtle and therefore hardly noticeable.

You will know for sure if you have what is type two diabetes, once you’ve done blood tests. There are four different criteria for diabetes. The first one is, if your glucose or sugar levels are 126 or higher, you are considered diabetic (first stage).

Protein Marker

The second criteria are your protein marker called hemoglobin A1C, which is a protein that measures a three-month interval of your past glucose averages; if your hemoglobin A1C is considered 6.6 or higher that means you are diabetic.

The third indication is the obvious symptoms which are excessive or rapid weight loss, excessive thirst, frequent urination, blurry vision, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.

These symptoms along your blood glucose level measuring up to 200 can deem you as diabetic. The last one is a two-hour glucose test, if your blood sample measures 200 or more then you are again considered diabetic.

The American Diabetic Association recommends that individuals who are 45 years or older especially those who have a body mass index of 25 or higher, must be screened at least every 3 years to detect diabetes especially if there are no prevailing symptoms. If your family has a history of the disease, then it’s highly recommended that you should be screened earlier to prevent and managed the disease.

What is Type Two Diabetes? Facts You Need to Know

In this section, you’ll be given an overview of what is type two diabetes all about including some of its causes, symptoms, and management; you can also find further information about each topic in succeeding chapters.

As mentioned earlier, what is type two diabetes, is the most common form of the disease, affecting almost 90% of patients worldwide. Type II diabetes means that the body is unable to use insulin properly that is why it is also referred to as “insulin – resistant diabetes.”

In the beginning the pancreas might try to hold up and extract insulin but overtime what happens is that the pancreas will be unable to produce insulin to keep the blood sugar levels normal. When these happen, the sugar then will start to build up in the blood which will lead to high blood sugar levels. It is different from type 1 diabetes because there is an absolute lack of insulin because of the damage to the cells in the pancreas which produces insulin.

Factors Contributing to Type II Diabetes

There are lots of reasons or factors that contribute to type II diabetes but more often than not the major causes are obesity and genetics; according to researchers, these are the strongest contenders of type II diabetes. The simplest way (and probably the most cliché advice) to prevent diabetes or type II diabetes for this matter is none other than leading a healthy lifestyle – that means keeping a tab on your diet and you should regularly exercise to stay fit because it can ultimately delay and in some cases, prevent the onset of diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is quite easy to treat and managed compared to type II because the former only needs to be injected with insulin, but the latter is a bit different and perhaps quite complicated. Initially, physicians will recommend regular monitoring of your blood sugar levels and will encourage you to eat a healthy diet, but if that doesn’t work out, you may need to take medications, and for some people, especially those who are obese, may need to undergo a weight loss surgery. What is type two diabetes is much more progressive than type 1, and if not treated properly or at an early stage, it can lead to serious complications and illnesses.