There's A Third Type Of Diabetes And Millions Don't Know They Have It

This type, 3c, is caused by physical damage to the pancreas. Fascinadora/Shutterstock
Until recently, diabetes came in two distinct varieties. However, a third major type exists, a fact that's only come to light relatively recently – and it's far more prevalent than people realized.
New research indicates that this means that plenty of people with the new Type 3c are being misdiagnosed as having Type 2, leading to incorrect treatment. According to the study in the journal Diabetes Care, just 3 percent of people with Type 3c are correctly identified.
A separate study concluded that anywhere between 5 and 10 percent of all diabetics in Western populations actually have Type 3c. That means that millions of people are living with the condition all over the world, and they don’t actually know it.
One of the researchers involved in the UK-centric work, clinical practitioner Andrew McGovern of the University of Surrey, explains that this new Type 3c can be extremely difficult to treat. Not only does it impair the pancreas’ ability to produce insulin, but it also prevents it from making key enzymes which are required for the digestion of food, along with other important hormones.
“People with type 3c diabetes were twice as likely to have poor blood sugar control than those with type 2 diabetes,” he explained in a blog post for The Conversation. “They were also five to ten times more likely to need insulin, depending on their type of pancreas disease.”
This new study highlights the lack of awareness of the condition, not only in the public realm but in the world of bio Continue reading

Rate this article

Total 1 ratings

10 Signs of Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes affects 24 million people in the U.S., but only 18 million know they have it. About 90 percent of those people have type 2 diabetes.
In diabetes, rising blood sugar acts like a poison.
Diabetes is often called the silent killer because of its easy-to-miss symptoms. "Almost every day people come into my office with diabetes who don't know it," says Maria Collazo-Clavell, MD, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
The best way to pick up on it is to have a blood sugar test. But if you have these symptoms, see your doctor.
15 Celebrities with Type 2 Diabetes Continue reading

What is a healthy, balanced diet for diabetes?

Whether you are living with diabetes or not, eating well is important.
The foods you choose to eat in your daily diet make a difference not only to managing diabetes, but also to how well you feel and how much energy you have every day.
How much you need to eat and drink is based on your age, gender, how active you are and the goals you are looking to achieve.
Portion sizes have grown in recent years, as the plates and bowls we use have got bigger. Use smaller crockery to cut back on your portion sizes, while making the food on your plate look bigger.
No single food contains all the essential nutrients you need in the right proportion. That’s why you need to consume foods from each of the main food groups to eat well.
Fruit and vegetables
Naturally low in fat and calories and packed full of vitamins, minerals and fibre, fruit and vegetables add flavour and variety to every meal.They may also help protect against stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers.
How often?
Everyone should eat at least five portions a day. Fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit in juice and canned vegetables in water all count. Go for a rainbow of colours to get as wide a range of vitamins and minerals as possible.
Try:
adding an apple, banana, pear, or orange to your child’s lunchbox
sliced melon or grapefruit topped with low-fat yogurt, or a handful of berries, or fresh dates, apricots or prunes for breakfast
carrots, peas and green beans mixed up in a pasta bake
adding an extra handful of vegetables to your dishes when cooking – peas to rice, spinach to lamb or onions to ch Continue reading

Everything You Need to Know About a Diabetic Diet

Not only are 86 million Americans prediabetic, but 90% of them don't even know they have it, the Centers for Disease Control reports. What's more, doctors diagnose as many as 1.5 million new cases of diabetes each year, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Whether you're at risk, prediabetic or following a diabetic diet as suggested by your doctor, a few simple strategies can help control blood sugar and potentially reverse the disease entirely. Plus, implementing just a few of these dietary changes can have other beneficial effects like weight loss, all without sacrificing flavor or feeling deprived.
First, let's start with the basics.
What is diabetes?
There are two main forms of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease that's usually diagnosed during childhood. Environmental and genetic factors can lead to the destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. That's the hormone responsible for delivering glucose (sugar) to your cells for metabolism and storage.
In contrast, type 2 diabetes is often diagnosed in adulthood and caused by a variety of lifestyle factors like obesity, physical inactivity and high cholesterol. Typically, type 2 diabetics still have functioning beta cells, meaning that they're still producing insulin. However, the peripheral tissues become less sensitive to the hormone, and the liver produces more glucose, causing high blood sugar. When left unmanaged, type 2 diabetics may stop producing insulin altogether.
While you may have some symptoms of high blood sugar (nausea, lethargy, frequent thirst and Continue reading

Staph Bacteria May Be a Trigger for Type 2 Diabetes

A growing body of research indicates that exposure to bacteria and viruses affects one’s likelihood for developing a number of chronic health conditions. Increasingly, scientists are uncovering proof that certain features of the human microbiome may be a root cause of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
A new study published this week adds to this evidence, implicating staph bacteria as one potential cause of the disease.
For the study, published in the journal mBio, a team of microbiologists at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine exposed rabbits to the toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The researchers found that exposure to high levels of this toxin caused the animals to develop symptoms of the disease, including insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and inflammation.
Their study suggests that drugs that eradicate or neutralize staph bacteria in the body may hold some promise as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes, which affects close to 30 million people in the U.S.
Because obesity is one of the common risk factors for the condition, the authors suggest extreme weight gain has a cascade effect: Obesity alters the microbiome and makes a person—or in this case, a rabbit—more susceptible to staph bacteria. Then a higher than normal exposure to toxins produced by the bacteria will trigger the disease.
Prior research has found that the toxins produced by staph bacteria disrupt normal immune system functioning, which can result in sepsis, inflammation of the heart and toxic shock, all of which can be fatal. But this new study shows staph toxins also a Continue reading