Type 2 diabetes is a condition where your body is producing the insulin however your cells do not absorb it. Insulin produced thus is not able to let cells absorb the glucose in your blood and thus your blood sugar increases. This condition is called insulin resistance. This often happens to people who are obese or overweight or certain other medical conditions. Proper management of this disease is required with medication and lifestyle changes to avoid these complications. Once caused it’s a lifetime disease and still a total cure is not found for Type 2 diabetes.

Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes symptoms are often mild if you do not notice them on time. Millions of people don’t even know that they are suffering from diabetes type 2. Some common symptoms are being thirsty and frequent urination. You may also have blurred vision due to damage your high blood sugar levels are causing to your eyes. You will feel moody over time and have numbness in your hands and feet. Even when you have eaten proper food you will feel a lack of energy. Your wounds won’t heal, and any yeast infection would come back again and again. You will always feel hungry and might suffer from heavyweight loss without even trying for it. Your immunity levels drop, and you get infections more often than usual. You may also get dark rash around your neck and feet.

Causes of Type 2 Diabetes

We all have insulin being produced in our pancreas which helps to breakdown glucose from your food into energy. The cells who have this glucose turns to absorb insulin which breakdowns it into energy. However, in type 2 diabetes, you tend to lose this capability and fail to absorb insulin being produced from your pancreases. Overtime pancreases try to produce more insulin to overcome the deficit of energy and reduce the blood glucose levels in your body however over time this action fails, and the pancreas stops making insulin leaving your body to rely on medications to help reduce blood sugar levels.

The main causes of type 2 diabetes were seen to be the genes that are your DNA is affected on how to produce insulin, or you are overweight, then often it seems that vitamin D produced in your body is not enough to counter the insulin absorption due to large surface area of your body. Then a term called metabolic syndrome is also a thing these days which may be causing your high blood sugar levels which include high blood sugar, extra fat, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and triglycerides.

In other cases, the liver seems to produce extra glucose to your blood vessels due to certain malfunctioning. Usually, when your blood sugar levels are up, the liver tends to store this sugar for later usage however in some bodies, this seems not to be working anymore. Other times a bad communication between cells might be the cause. In this case, cells don’t function correctly to use insulin or glucose and such a chain reaction causes diabetes.

Diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes

You might have to get tested on type 2 diabetes. These tests include HBA1C, fasting and Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. Under the HBA1C test, your average glucose levels are tested over the past 3 months, then fasting glucose tests how your blood sugar is while you don’t eat anything for 8 hours except for water. Oral glucose tolerance test checks your glucose levels before and after 2 hours of eating something sweet to check how your body handles sugar.

Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes

Often medication with certain lifestyle changes will help you manage your diabetes levels well. You must lose at least 13 percent of your body weight to have good control of your diabetes. Need to control then potions of what you eat and how you eat. Sugar is a complete no other than some treat now and then. You should consult a dietitian to help you learn more about type 2 diabetes, how you can eat full plate with fewer calories. You need to incorporate more vegetables and fruits in your diet and cut back on refined carbs, especially sweets.

At least a thirty minutes’ walk is a must every day. Then you could incorporate things like yoga, meditation and strength training. You will also have to regularly keep checking your blood sugar levels.

Depending on your condition, you might have to either go for insulin or oral medications to help you with diabetes. Some of the common type 2 diabetes medications are – metformin, sulfonylureas, meglitinides, Thiazolidinediones, etc. It must be prescribed by your doctors and then only you should take this medication. You can also use other alternatives such as supplements that contain anti-diabetes properties. A good example of these type of supplements is Berberine which contains the same effects as metformine and also other health benefits. Of course, you should first consult your doctor about this before taking this supplement as it may have side effects that may not be suitable for your body.

Type 2 diabetes often starts with a prediabetes condition and is often related to genes and obesity. If you could help control your portions and reduce the weight, type 2 diabetes can be prevented. However, this requires a lot of patience and mindful lifestyle changes. One must walk at least half an hour every day to help reduce weight and keep the metabolism active. Overtime if you don’t control these factors, you will have to go down on insulin and have to deal with all kinds of complications related to diabetes. Medicines only help manage short intervals of your blood sugar levels, however, your lifestyle changes can only help you with your type 2 diabetes in the longer run.

Medicolo is a lifestyle website that helps you understand how others are dealing with similar medical conditions. People often share their stories and personal experiences on this website of a certain medical condition. The website is aimed to help you with a warm and supportive environment and help you with those initial questions and issues or biases you might be having and clear them out for you. Also, the website brings you the latest news in that arena of disease to help you understand and know about the latest treatments that are available for your disease. You can also share your journey so far of how you dealt with diabetes of their website.