Type 2 Diabetes: Symptoms, Early Signs, And Complications

Type 2 diabetes: Symptoms, early signs, and complications

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can develop at any age, although it is more common in middle-aged and older adults. But what are the early signs and symptoms of this condition?
Type 2 diabetes results in high blood sugar levels and is believed to affect 29.1 million Americans. It accounts for up to 95 percent of all diabetes cases, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In this article, we explore the early signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes. We also look at the associated risk factors and potential complications of the condition.
Contents of this article:
What is type 2 diabetes?
People with type 2 diabetes do not make or use insulin correctly. Insulin is a hormone that regulates movement of blood glucose (sugar) into cells. Blood glucose is the body's source of energy and comes from food.
When sugar cannot enter cells, it builds up and the body is unable to rely on it for energy. If the body is unable to get glucose, the result is symptoms of type 2 diabetes.
A doctor may suspect diabetes if a person's blood sugar levels are above 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes
There are a number of symptoms of type 2 diabetes that people should be aware of. Awareness of these may help them get advice and a possible diagnosis. The sooner someone with type 2 diabetes is diagnosed, the sooner they can begin treatment to manage the condition.
Symptoms include the following:
Frequent urination and increased thirst: When excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream, fluid is pull Continue reading

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50% Rise In Diabetes Deaths Across India Over 11 Years

With a genetic predisposition brought to the fore by changing lifestyles, deaths due to diabetes increased 50% in India between 2005 and 2015, and is now the seventh most common cause of death in the country, up from the 11th rank in 2005, according to data published by the Global Burden of Disease (GDB).
Ischemic heart disease continues to be the highest cause of death, followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cerebrovascular disease, lower respiratory infection, diarrhoeal diseases and tuberculosis.
In 2015, 346,000 people died of diabetes, which caused 3.3% of all deaths that year, with an annual increase of 2.7% from 1990, according to the GDB study.
Nearly 26 people die of diabetes per 100,000 population; diabetes is also one of the top causes of disability and accounts for 2.4% of the disability adjusted life years lost (sum of years lost due to disability or premature death due to the disease).
Source: Global Burden of Disease, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)
There are 69.1 million people with diabetes in India, the second highest number in the world after China, which has 109 million people with diabetes. Of these, 36 million cases remain undiagnosed, according to this 2015 Diabetes Atlas released by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). Nearly 9% in the age group of 20-79 have diabetes.
The figures are alarming since diabetes is a chronic disease that not just affects the pancreas’ ability to produce insulin but affects the entire body. Complications caused due to diabetes include heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, vision l Continue reading

‘Diabetes epidemic shifting to urban poor, India needs urgent prevention, screening’

Diabetes, once a disease of the affluent, is now rampant among India’s urban poor too and preventive measures and free screening services are urgently required to control its impact
Diabetes, once a disease of the affluent, is now rampant among India’s urban poor too and preventive measures and free screening services are urgently required to control its impact: this is the recommendation of V Mohan, one of India’s pioneering diabetologists.
Mohan was one of the authors of a 15-state study on diabetes in India funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research and India’s health ministry. The study was published in The Lancet, a British medical journal, on June 7, 2017.
At 16.7%, India had the highest share of the world’s diabetics in 2015 after China (26%), according to Diabetes Atlas 2015. This is the result of sedentary lifestyle and bad food choices, Mohan had told IndiaSpend on June 30, 2015.
It is important to ensure early detection of diabetes – an impairment that reduces the pancreas’ ability to produce insulin, a hormone that regulates blood glucose levels. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and vision loss.
Read more | Once-a-month diabetes treatment may replace daily insulin jabs
The 15-state survey showed that 47.3% of the 3,938 respondents identified as having diabetes had not been diagnosed. In 2015, about 52% of India’s 69.2 million diabetics remained undiagnosed, IndiaSpend reported on October 13, 2016.
Except Punjab, more respondents reported prediabetes– high blood glucose that hasn Continue reading

FAIL: Diabetes Medication Isn't Working. So What Does?

9.3% of Americans and 6.5% of Canadians suffer from diabetes. There is a lot of agreement about the medical treatment. But does the treatment work? At least 5 crucial studies have found that it doesn’t.
People with type 2 diabetes are 2-4 times more likely to die from heart disease. But when the authoritative Cochrane group did a systematic review of 20 studies of type 2 diabetics, they found that there was no significant benefit to intensely targeting blood sugar control with drugs for either cardiovascular death or death from any cause. While it did reduce the risk of amputation, retinopathy and nephropathy, it also increased the risk of hypoglycaemia by 30% (Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2011 Jun 15;(6):CD008143).
The same year, a meta-analysis of 13 controlled studies confirmed that there was no significant benefit of drug treatment for cardiovascular death or death from any cause. While at first it looked like drugs may reduce the risk of nonfatal heart attacks, when only the high quality studies were included, that apparent benefit disappeared; however, what now appeared was a 47% increase in the risk of congestive heart failure. So, diabetes drugs did not reduce the risk of death from heart disease, they increased them. They also doubled the risk of severe hypoglycaemia (BMJ 2011 Jul 26;343:d4169).
A third systematic review and meta-analysis included 14 studies of type 2 diabetics. Its negative findings went even further. Not only did diabetes meds confer no benefit for fatal or nonfatal heart attack or stroke nor for death from any cause, this study also found insuff Continue reading

7 Signs You May Have Type 2 Diabetes

Not exercising. Supersize portions. Our love affair with food has taken a drastic turn. The number of Americans with type 2 diabetes—21 million, including adults and children—has risen with the obesity epidemic. Should you or you child get tested? Yes, if you have a family history of the disease and/or any of the following:
You're overweight. Even being just 10 to 15 pounds overweight can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If your child is overweight, make sure his pediatrician tests him, because type 2 diabetes is on the rise in kids. The encouraging news is that losing just 5% to 7% of your body weight can reduce your risk of diabetes, according to research from the Diabetes Prevention Program. Testing usually involves screening your blood for high glucose (sugar) levels. If they're too high, you could have either type 1 or type 2. (See box, right, for explanations of the two types.) Your doctor will most likely be able to sort it out based on your age and symptoms. In some cases, you may also need to see an endocrinologist (specialist).
You're constantly running to the bathroom. "If your body doesn't make enough insulin [a hormone that carries glucose into your cells to give them energy]," which can happen with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, "glucose builds up in your bloodstream and comes out in your urine," explains Janet Silverstein, MD, chief of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Florida. Because you're urinating a lot, you'll probably also be very thirsty and drinking more than usual.
Your vision is blurry. High blood sugar levels cause gluc Continue reading