Type 2 diabetes

From Diabetes Wiki

Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM), obesity related diabetes, or adult-onset diabetes) is a metabolic disorder that is primarily characterized by insulin resistance, relative insulin deficiency, and hyperglycemia.

Type 2 diabetes is often managed by engaging in exercise and following a diabetic diet. Oral medications may also be used. The condition is rapidly increasing in the developed world, and there is some evidence that this pattern will be followed in much of the rest of the world in coming years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has characterized the increase as an epidemic.

Unlike Type 1 diabetes, there is little tendency toward ketoacidosis in Type 2 diabetics, though it is not unknown. The two have quite different origins and treatments, despite the similarity in complications.

[edit] Signs & symptoms

Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes may continue for a long time, sometime for years, without perceptible effect on day-to-day activity. This makes its detection, delaying it, and its prevention difficult. However, certain signs and symptoms may give a clue to its existence. Some of the major signs of type 2 diabetes include:

• Increased frequency of thirst
• Increased frequency of urination
• Sudden weight loss
• Feeling of fatigue
• Vision problems
• Frequent infections
• Slow healing of even small sores and bruises

[edit] Prevention

The best preventive step to delay or avoid type 2 diabetes is to make some lifestyle changes. Lifestyle changes are helpful even if the diabetes runs in the family and even if a person has already been diagnosed with diabetes. Major lifestyle changes involve three aspects: eating nutritionally balanced healthy foods; having at least some physical activities like exercise like walking; and losing weight, if overweight and obese. Some of the preventive measures include:

• Healthy food habits: Taking a nutritionally balance healthy foods, with particulate attention to foods suited to persons with diabetes and carbohydrate counting in most of the case, helps in delaying and/ or preventing the type 2 diabetes. If one has already been diagnosed with diabetes, healthy food habits become more important for better management of diabetes.

• Physical activities: Physical activities help in a number of ways for smooth functioning of the body. Simple exercises like walking briskly may delay and prevent the onset of diabetes. Physical activities are also required for better management of diabetes if a person already has diabetes.
• Weight management: Weight management, keeping a a normal weight, is necessary for a healthy life. Apart from several benefits, it delays and prevents onset of diabetes. Persosn who are overwight and obess are more prone to develop prediabetes and diabetes

Healthy lifestyle choices can help you prevent type 2 diabetes. Even if diabetes runs in your family, diet and exercise can help you prevent the disease. And if you've already been diagnosed with diabetes, the same healthy lifestyle choices can help you prevent potentially serious complications.

In some cases, medication like oral diabetes drugs [for example, metformin (Glucophage) and rosiglitazone (Avandia)] reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, healthy lifestyle choice is always a better option to delay and prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

[edit] External links

• Type 2 diabetes - a page from the site of Mayo Clinic