Type 2 diabetes

Diabetes is a serious complex condition which can affect the entire body. Diabetes requires daily self-care and if complications develop, diabetes can have a significant impact on quality of life and can reduce life expectancy. While there is currently no cure for diabetes, you can live an enjoyable life by learning about the condition and effectively managing it. Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease in which people have problems regulating their blood sugar. People with diabetes have high blood sugar because their bodies:

·         do not produce enough insulin

·         are not responsive to insulin

·         a combination of both

Type 2 diabetes is extremely common) about 9 percent of the population (. The vast majority of these people have type 2 diabetes. 

What causes type 2 diabetes?

Strongly genetic predisposition, but the risk is greatly increased when associated with lifestyle factors such as high blood pressure, overweight or obesity, insufficient physical activity, poor diet and the classic ‘apple shape’ body where extra weight is carried around the waist.

While there is no single cause of type 2 diabetes, there are well-established risk factors. Some risk factors can be controlled and others you are born with.

\You are at a higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes if you:

·         1-Have a family history of diabetes

·         2-Are older (over 55 years of age ) - the risk increases as we age

·         3-Are over 45 years of age and are overweight

·         4-Are over 45 years of age and have high blood pressure

·         5-Are a woman who has given birth to a child over 4.5 kgs (9 lbs), or had gestational diabetes when pregnant, or had a condition known as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

Symptoms

In type 2 diabetes, many people have no symptoms at all. As type 2 diabetes is commonly (but not always) diagnosed at a later age, the complications of diabetes may already be present.

Symptoms include:

·         Being excessively thirsty

·         Passing more urine

·         Feeling tired and lethargic

·         Always feeling hungry

·         Having cuts that heal slowly

·         Itching, skin infections

·         Blurred vision

·         Gradually putting on weight

·         Mood swings

·         Headaches

·         Feeling dizzy

·         Leg cramps

Complications

including: two to four times the risk of cardiovascular disease, including ischemic heart disease and stroke; a 20-fold increase in lower limb amputations, and increased rates of hospitalizations.. In the developed world, and increasingly elsewhere, type 2 diabetes is the largest cause of nontraumatic blindness and kidney failure. It has also been associated with an increased risk of cognitive dysfunction and dementia through disease processes such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Other complications include acanthosis nigricans, sexual dysfunction, and frequent infections.