Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for some 90% to 95% of all cases of diabetes, is seen mainly in adults over the age of 40, although it is increasingly being seen today at younger ages, and even in quite young children.
Type 2 diabetes symptoms are often very mild in the early stages of the condition and you could well suffer from type 2 diabetes for many years before it is diagnosed.
In its early stages the symptoms of type 2 diabetes can be quite mild and it is possible to suffer from the condition for many years before it is diagnosed. It is however a potentially very dangerous condition and undetected type 2 diabetes can lead to a number of serious complications including blindness, the inability of wounds to heal, renal failure and coronary artery disease.
It is estimated that approximately one in five adults over the age of 65 in the United States suffers from type 2 diabetes. The condition is more common amongst Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites and is slightly more common in older women than in men.
The origin of type 2 diabetes is unknown and, while there is believed to be a genetic component to the disease this is much less clearly seen than it is in the case of type I diabetes. There is however clear evidence to show that environmental factors play a large role in the onset of type 2 diabetes and this is especially true in the case of obesity, a lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle.
It is often thought that type 1 and type 2 diabetes are essentially the same thing and that the difference lies simply in the name, with type I diabetes being associated with the disease in childhood and type 2 diabetes being seen in adults. This in not the case. While there are of course some similarities, type 1 and type 2 diabetes are quite separate conditions and require quite different forms of treatment.
In the case of type I diabetes the body fails to produce insulin, which is necessary for the body to transfer the energy that it needs in the form of glucose from the blood into the muscles and other body cells. In the case of type 2 diabetes the problem is not that the body does not produce insulin, although in some cases insulin production may be low, but that the body develops a resistant to insulin which prevents it from transferring glucose into the muscles and other body cells.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition for which there is no cure and for which treatment is therefore aimed at managing the disease to reduce the incidence of complications (many of which can be life-threatening) and to maintain a good quality of life for the sufferer.
In the first instant patients with type 2 diabetes will be treated with a carefully designed program of diet and exercise (including a weight loss plan where needed) and this can be very successful in controlling levels of glucose within the blood and can often considerably improve a patient’s sensitivity to insulin. Where this treatment is not successful, or in cases where the disease progresses, the condition is then treated with a range of medication.
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