How Long Does It Take For Diabetes To Develop

What Are The Treatments For Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes must be treated with insulin. To do this, a person with type 1 diabetes must inject insulin under their skin where it can be absorbed into their bloodstream to help glucose access the cells that require it. Insulin cant be taken in pill form because the digestive juices in the stomach would destroy the insulin before it could work.

Treating T1D is all about the amount and timing of insulin, as well as the best way to get the right dose of this essential hormone to assure that the glucose circulating in your blood is able to be properly absorbed by your body. Having too much glucose in your body can cause serious complications as can having too little glucose in your blood .

Insulin can be delivered by:

Lexie, known as the divabetic, is a Black diabetes advocate who posts everything from giveaways to advice on dating with type 1 diabetes. She frequently shares posts about diabetes-friendly food and humor.

How Is Diabetes Diagnosed

Diabetes is diagnosed and managed by checking your glucose level in a blood test. There are three tests that can measure your blood glucose level: fasting glucose test, random glucose test and A1c test.

• Fasting plasma glucose test: This test is best done in the morning after an eight hour fast .
• Random plasma glucose test: This test can be done any time without the need to fast.
• A1c test: This test, also called HbA1C or glycated hemoglobin test, provides your average blood glucose level over the past two to three months. This test measures the amount of glucose attached to hemoglobin, the protein in your red blood cells that carries oxygen. You dont need to fast before this test.
• Oral glucose tolerance test: In this test, blood glucose level is first measured after an overnight fast. Then you drink a sugary drink. Your blood glucose level is then checked at hours one, two and three.

Frequent Thirst And Urination

The average human being should be able to urinate between 4 to 5 times each day however, victims of diabetes usually do so more often. The reason for this is not farfetched, normally the body tends to reabsorb glucose as it passes through the kidney.

However, when diabetes increases your blood sugar levels, the kidney may find it difficult to get it all back in. this leads to a situation where the body creates more urine and that means fluid loss. Peeing so much would mean you have fewer fluids in your body thus making you thirstier.

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Can Prediabetes Type 2 Diabetes And Gestational Diabetes Be Prevented

Although diabetes risk factors like family history and race cant be changed, there are other risk factors that you do have some control over. Adopting some of the healthy lifestyle habits listed below can improve these modifiable risk factors and help to decrease your chances of getting diabetes:

• Eat a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean or Dash diet. Keep a food diary and calorie count of everything you eat. Cutting 250 calories per day can help you lose ½ pound per week.
• Get physically active. Aim for 30 minutes a day at least five days a week. Start slow and work up to this amount or break up these minutes into more doable 10 minute segments. Walking is great exercise.
• Lose weight if you are overweight. Dont lose weight if you are pregnant, but check with your obstetrician about healthy weight gain during your pregnancy.
• Lower your stress. Learn relaxation techniques, deep breathing exercises, mindful meditation, yoga and other helpful strategies.
• Limit alcohol intake. Men should drink no more than two alcoholic beverages a day women should drink no more than one.
• Get an adequate amount of sleep .
• Take medications to manage existing risk factors for heart disease or to reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes as directed by your healthcare provider.
• If you think you have symptoms of prediabetes, see your provider.

Can Diabetes Cause Hair Loss

Yes, its possible for diabetes to cause hair loss. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to persistently high blood glucose levels. This, in turn, leads to blood vessel damage and restricted flow, and oxygen and nutrients cant get to the cells that need it including hair follicles. Stress can cause hormone level changes that affect hair growth. If you have Type 1 diabetes, your immune system attacks itself and can also cause a hair loss condition called alopecia areata.

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Signs Symptoms And Diagnosis Of Diabetes

The signs and symptoms of Type 1 diabetes usually develop quickly, especially in children, over a period of weeks. In babies and young children, the first indication of Type 1 diabetes may be a yeast infection that causes a severe diaper rash that’s far worse than the common red, puffy and tender skin rash. In young children and infants, lethargy, dehydration and abdominal pain also may indicate Type 1 diabetes.

Once the symptoms appear, a blood test generally will reveal very high blood glucose.

Type 2 diabetes can be detected easily during a routine screening exam and blood test. However, it frequently can go undiagnosed for years unless a physician draws a blood sample to check the blood glucose.

In the early stages of Type 2 diabetes, you experience few to no noticeable signs of the disease. As time goes by and the untreated blood glucose continues to rise, symptoms begin.

If you’re over 40 or have parents or siblings with diabetes, be sure to have your blood glucose checked routinely.

The most common symptoms of undiagnosed Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are:

Prediabetes And Kidney Disease

If you have prediabetes, taking action to prevent type 2 diabetes is an important step in preventing kidney disease. Studies have shown that overweight people at higher risk for type 2 diabetes can prevent or delay developing it by losing 5% to 7% of their body weight, or 10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person. You can do that by eating healthier and getting 150 minutes of physical activity each week. CDCs National Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle change program can help you create the healthy lifestyle habits needed to prevent type 2 diabetes. Find a program in your community or online.

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How Long Does It Take For The Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes To Develop

Type 2 diabetes symptoms may be very minor for a long time, and suddenly become more serious.

This is why type 2 diabetes often goes unnoticed for many years. It is believed that up to 850,000 adults could have type 2 diabetes and be unaware of it

Its important not to disregard the symptoms of diabetes as being down to getting older.

Is Type 1 Diabetes An Autoimmune Disease

When type 1 diabetes is triggered by a virus, someone predisposed to autoimmune conditions may develop an autoimmune response. This means that their bodys immune system will start attacking its own cells. In type 1 diabetes, the body attacks the beta cells in the pancreas that are responsible for producing insulin.

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How Common Is Type 1 Diabetes

Well, its a lot less common than type 2. According to the American Diabetes Association, 1.6 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, including 187,000 children and adolescents. Type 1 diabetes makes up between 5 and 10% of total diabetes cases in the United States, while type 2 diabetes covers the other 90 to 95%.

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed before the age of 40, although occasionally people have been diagnosed later after an illness causes an immune response that triggers it. In the US, most type 1 diabetes diagnoses occur in children between the ages of 4 and 14 years old.

Sexual Function And Diabetes

Reduced blood supply and nerve damage can affect sexual function. Erectile dysfunction in men is the persistent inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance. This is a common problem for men of all ages and is more common in men with diabetes. Erectile dysfunction is not a disease, but a symptom of some other problem physical, psychological or a mixture of both. Most cases of erectile dysfunction are physical, such as nerve or blood vessel damage. In women, sexual dysfunction is also reported, although there is a lack of research in this area. It is difficult to know whether this is directly related to hormonal changes such as menopause, or to diabetes.It is important to seek help from your doctor, diabetes educator or organisations such as Healthy Male Andrology Australia.

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The Surprising Truth About Prediabetes

Its real. Its common. And most importantly, its reversible. You can prevent or delay prediabetes from developing into type 2 diabetes with simple, proven lifestyle changes.

Amazing but true: approximately 88 million American adults1 in 3have prediabetes. Whats more, more than 84% of people with prediabetes dont know they have it. Could this be you? Read on to find out the facts and what you can do to stay healthy.

The Story Of The Pima Indians

Research has found3 that the Pima Indians are a perfect example of how powerfully our environment can dictate who gets obese and diabetic, and who doesnt.

Today, two main groups of Pima Indians live on earth. The first group lives high in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico a rural environment. The second group lives in Arizona on the Gila River reservation. Both groups are thought to be genetically identical. Scientists estimate they were separated about 700 to 1,000 years ago. For DNA evolutionary development, thats a mere pittance of time.

But physically, the two groups today could not be more different.

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What Is Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Advancements in technology have given us another way to monitor glucose levels. Continuous glucose monitoring uses a tiny sensor inserted under your skin. You don’t need to prick your finger. Instead, the sensor measures your glucose and can display results anytime during the day or night. Ask your healthcare provider about continuous glucose monitors to see if this is an option for you.

Mental Health And Diabetes

Living with and managing either type 1 or type 2 diabetes can lead to stress, anxiety and depression. This can affect your blood glucose levels and how you manage your diabetes in general. Over time, this can affect your health.It is important to talk to your doctor if you are going through times of stress, depression or anxiety. Your doctor can refer you to a counsellor or psychologist by providing a diabetes mental health plan. This is Medicare rebated.Other help is available, including:

• online resources

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Latent Autoimmune Diabetes In Adults

Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, or LADA, is a form of type 1 diabetes occurring in adulthood. Latent means that it comes on quite slowly, so the signs and symptoms of LADA has a slower course of onset compared to type 1 diagnosed in children, sometimes developing over a period of years. Because these symptoms develop slowly, LADA can be sometimes be incorrectly diagnosed as type 2 diabetes in adults.

Some of the characteristics of LADA include:

• Age of onset is 30 years and older
• Healthy weight with BMI is less than 25kg/m2
• Personal or family history of autoimmune disease
• Gradual onset

What Does It Mean To Control Prediabetes

First, what does it mean to control prediabetes? In the short term, controlling prediabetes can mean taking steps to lower blood sugar. Long term, the goal in managing prediabetes is to lower the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Someone who works to control prediabetes may be able to prevent diabetes from developing, or even reverse prediabetes entirely to get blood sugar levels back to normal.

There are still important benefits even if type 2 diabetes is not prevented, but rather is delayed, by following a prediabetes management plan. Financially, type 2 diabetes is an expensive condition due to the costs of insulin or other medications, testing strips and other supplies, and healthcare. Every year that you do not have type 2 diabetes is a year that these costs do not occur. Healthwise, diabetes complications can include neuropathy, kidney and heart disease, and vision problems. The longer diabetes is delayed, the less chance of having these conditions or the less chance of having severe cases of them.

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Can You Be Born With Diabetes Is It Genetic

You arent born with diabetes, but Type 1 diabetes usually appears in childhood. Prediabetes and diabetes develop slowly over time years. Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy.Scientists do believe that genetics may play a role or contribute to the development of Type 1 diabetes. Something in the environment or a virus may trigger its development. If you have a family history of Type 1 diabetes, you are at higher risk of developing Type 1 diabetes. If you have a family history of prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes, youre at increased risk of developing prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes.

Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes

These tend to show up after your glucose has been high for a long time.

• Yeast infections. Both men and women with diabetes can get these. Yeast feeds on glucose, so having plenty around makes it thrive. Infections can grow in any warm, moist fold of skin, including:
• Between fingers and toes
• Under breasts
• In or around sex organs

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What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Type 1 Diabetes

A person can have diabetes without knowing it because the symptoms aren’t always obvious and they can take a long time to develop. Type 1 diabetes may come on gradually or suddenly.

But kids or teens who develop type 1 diabetes may:

• Need to pee a lot. The kidneys respond to high levels of glucose in the blood by flushing out the extra glucose in urine . Kids with high blood sugar levels need to pee more often and make more pee.
• Drink a lot of liquids. Because they’re peeing so often and losing so much fluid, they can become very thirsty and drink a lot in an attempt to keep the levels of body water normal.
• Feel tired often. This is because the body can’t use glucose for energy properly.
• Lose weight . Kids and teens with type 1 diabetes may have an increased appetite, but often lose weight because the body breaks down muscle and stored fat in an attempt to provide fuel to the hungry cells.

In some cases, other symptoms can be the signal that something is wrong. Sometimes the first sign of diabetes is bedwetting in a child who has been dry at night. Diabetes also should be suspected if a girl who hasn’t started puberty yet gets a vaginal yeast infection.

How Is Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosed

Doctors can say for sure if a person has diabetes by testing blood samples for glucose. When high blood sugars show that a child has diabetes, other blood tests are usually done to help doctors find out if the child has type 1 or type 2 diabetes, because management and treatment of the diabetes may differ based on type.

If diabetes is suspected or confirmed, the doctor may refer your child to a pediatric endocrinologist, a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of kids with diseases of the endocrine system, such as diabetes and growth disorders.

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Is It Hard To Find Out You Have Diabetes

Lookwe know it can be hard to hear that you have diabetes. You probably feel overwhelmed and confused. Youre asking yourself, What now? Well, the good news is you have a community to fall back on. You dont have to maneuver this by yourself. You have the support of countless others who have felt the same shock.

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Type 1 Diabetes Explained Simply

Type 1 diabetes is elevated blood sugars due to an absence or deficiency of insulin.

In diabetes, an increase in blood glucose levels occur when glucose cant get into your fat and muscle cells where it is needed. In order for a cell in your body to gain access to glucose, it needs a small molecule called insulin. This key unlocks the door into the cell. People with type 1 diabetes no longer produce insulin for a number of reasons.

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Food Fitness And Prevention Of Diabetes

Bottom Line: There is much we can do with a healthy lifestyle alone, no medications needed, to prevent diabetes, states Dr. James Barnard, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at UCLA and author of more than 200 studies on the relationship between lifestyle habits and chronic diseases like diabetes.

In fact, a healthy lifestyle has proven more effective than medication in staving off diabetes.

Lifestyle changes, like those taught at the Pritikin Center, are nearly twice as effective as medication in preventing pre-diabetes from turning into diabetes.

In a landmark study, the NIH-sponsored Diabetes Prevention Program2, scientists followed 3,234 men and women with pre-diabetes for three years.

One-third of them adopted lifestyle changes that were similar to the Pritikin Program: a daily eating plan of low-calorie-dense, high-fiber foods exercising for at least 30 minutes five days a week and a 7% weight loss.

Another third of these pre-diabetics took a drug metformin .

The remaining third, the control group, took a placebo.

The results? Those on the lifestyle-change plan reduced the progression to full-blown type 2 diabetes by 58% compared to the control group. The reduction was even greater 71% among those aged 60 years or older.

Treatment with the drug metformin reduced the progression to type 2 diabetes by just 31%.

Put simply, lifestyle changes were nearly twice as effective as medication in preventing pre-diabetes from turning into diabetes.