How Long Does It Take To Develop Diabetes

Reduce Calorie And Fat Intake

Research has shown that losing 5 to 7 percent of your body weight can help decrease blood glucose levels and help other health goals, such as improving blood pressure, raising HDL and lowering triglycerides. You can accomplish this goal by consuming fruits, vegetables and whole grains and staying away from processed foods. Nutritionists often recommend sticking with a variety of food, so that your taste buds wont get bored and you can continue a healthy diet.

What Is Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a life-threatening condition. It happens when your liver breaks down fat to use as energy because theres not enough insulin and therefore glucose isnt being used as an energy source. Fat is broken down by the liver into a fuel called ketones. The formation and use of ketones is a normal process if it has been a long time since your last meal and your body needs fuel. Ketones are a problem when your fat is broken down too fast for your body to process and they build up in your blood. This makes your blood acidic, which is a condition called ketoacidosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis can be the result of uncontrolled Type 1 diabetes and less commonly, Type 2 diabetes.Diabetic ketoacidosis is diagnosed by the presence of ketones in your urine or blood and a basic metabolic panel. The condition develops over several hours and can cause coma and possibly even death.

Early Signs And Symptoms Of Diabetes

1. Frequent urination

When your blood sugar is high, your kidneys expel the excess blood sugar, causing you to urinate more frequently. One of the early warning signs of diabetes is frequent urination that is urgent enough to wake you up to go to the bathroom during sleep.

2. Increased thirst

While your kidneys are working overtime and youre urinating more frequently, valuable fluids will be pulled from your tissues. Frequent urination will make you feel constantly thirsty.

3. Fatigue

When your blood sugar is high, your body works hard to get rid of the excess sugar. Not only does this process take a toll on your body, but it also alters the way that your body uses glucose for energy. Excessively high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, has fatiguing effects among other symptoms. Additionally, the dehydration that accompanies more frequent urination is a common cause of fatigue in diabetics.

4. Blurred vision

High blood sugar can cause damage to the small blood vessels of the eye, resulting in a swollen lens that can cause blurred vision. As blood sugar levels rise and lower, your vision may return to normal or worsen, respectively.

5. Increased hunger

When you have high blood sugar, your body is actively looking to get rid of it. Because your body expels so much of the glucose you’re getting from your food, you may have increased feelings of hunger.

6. Unexplained weight loss

7. Slow healing cuts and wounds

8. Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet

9. Skin discoloration

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When Should You Call Your Doctor

If you are aged over 45 years or are exposed to the risks of diabetes, then you should get tested. If you can spot the condition early on, you can avert issues like heart trouble, nerve damage, and other complications. You should, however, call your doctor when you notice the following conditions frequent urination, sickness of the stomach, deep breathing, and sweet breath.

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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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Many Miss Prediabetes Wake

ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

Type 2 diabetes doesnt usually appear all of a sudden. Many people have a long, slow, invisible lead-in to it called prediabetes. During this period, blood sugar levels are higher than normal. However, theyre not high enough to cause symptoms or to be classified as diabetes. Its still possible at this stage to prevent the slide into full-blown diabetes. Think of prediabetes as a wake-up call.

Unfortunately, few people ever hear the alarm. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that among Americans age 20 and older, only 10% of those with prediabetes know they have it. Given that as many as 73 million Americans have prediabetes, thats a lot of missed opportunities to prevent the ravages of diabetes.

Why Is My Blood Glucose Level High How Does This Happen

The process of digestion includes breaking down the food you eat into various different nutrient sources. When you eat carbohydrates , your body breaks this down into sugar . When glucose is in your bloodstream, it needs help a “key” to get into its final destination where it’s used, which is inside your body’s cells . This help or “key” is insulin.

Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas, an organ located behind your stomach. Your pancreas releases insulin into your bloodstream. Insulin acts as the key that unlocks the cell wall door, which allows glucose to enter your bodys cells. Glucose provides the fuel or energy tissues and organs need to properly function.

If you have diabetes:

• Your pancreas doesnt make any insulin or enough insulin.

• Your pancreas makes insulin but your bodys cells dont respond to it and cant use it as it normally should.

If glucose cant get into your bodys cells, it stays in your bloodstream and your blood glucose level rises.

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How Is Diabetes Managed

Diabetes affects your whole body. To best manage diabetes, youll need to take steps to keep your risk factors under control and within the normal range, including:

• Keep your blood glucose levels as near to normal as possible by following a diet plan, taking prescribed medication and increasing your activity level.
• Maintain your blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels as near the normal ranges as possible.
• Control your blood pressure. Your blood pressure should not be over 140/90 mmHg.

You hold the keys to managing your diabetes by:

• Planning what you eat and following a healthy meal plan. Follow a Mediterranean diet or Dash diet. These diets are high in nutrition and fiber and low in fats and calories. See a registered dietitian for help understanding nutrition and meal planning.
• Exercising regularly. Try to exercise at least 30 minutes most days of the week. Walk, swim or find some activity you enjoy.
• Losing weight if you are overweight. Work with your healthcare team to develop a weight-loss plan.
• Taking medication and insulin, if prescribed, and closely following recommendations on how and when to take it.
• Quitting smoking .

You have a lot of control on a day-to-day basis in managing your diabetes!

Tips To Keep Your Kidneys Healthy

You can help keep your kidneys healthy by managing your blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. This is also very important for your heart and blood vesselshigh blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels are all risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

Physical activity can help

• Take your medicines as directed.

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Diabetes And Chronic Kidney Disease

If you have diabetes, ask your doctor about kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease often develops slowly and with few symptoms. Many people dont realize they have CKD until its advanced and they need dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive.

If you have diabetes, get your kidneys checked regularly, which is done by your doctor with simple blood and urine tests. Regular testing is your best chance for identifying CKD early if you do develop it. Early treatment is most effective and can help prevent additional health problems.

CKD is common in people with diabetes. Approximately 1 in 3 adults with diabetes has CKD. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can cause kidney disease.

• Kidney diseases are the 9th leading cause of death in the United States.
• Approximately 1 in 3 adults with diabetes has CKD.
• Every 24 hours, 170 people with diabetes begin treatment for kidney failure.

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.

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Diabetes Sick Day Rules

If you need to take insulin to control your diabetes, you should have received instructions about looking after yourself when you’re ill known as your “sick day rules”.

Contact your diabetes care team or GP for advice if you haven’t received these.

The advice you’re given will be specific to you, but some general measures that your sick day rules may include could be to:

• keep taking your insulin it’s very important not to stop treatment when you’re ill your treatment plan may state whether you need to temporarily increase your dose
• test your blood glucose level more often than usual most people are advised to check the level at least four times a day
• keep yourself well hydrated make sure you drink plenty of sugar-free drinks
• keep eating eat solid food if you feel well enough to, or liquid carbohydrates such as milk, soup and yoghurt if this is easier
• check your ketone levels if your blood glucose level is high

Seek advice from your diabetes care team or GP if your blood glucose or ketone level remains high after taking insulin, if:

• you’re not sure whether to make any changes to your treatment
• you develop symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis
• you have any other concerns

Read more about sick day rules

How Does Diabetes Lead To Amputation

Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to poor blood flow . Without oxygen and nutrients , you are more prone to the development of cuts and sores that can lead to infections that cant fully heal. Areas of your body that are farthest away from your heart are more likely to experience the effects of poor blood flow. So areas of your body like your toes, feet, legs and fingers are more likely to be amputated if infection develops and healing is poor.

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You May Need Medication

If you are at high risk of developing diabetes, your doctor may recommend medication to help you manage it. Medications to control cholesterol and high blood pressure may also be prescribed.

If youre concerned about having prediabetes or are experiencing symptoms of diabetes, its a good idea to contact your primary care physician for advice. If you are local to Southern California and are in search of a primary care physician, call or visit www.keckmedicine.org/request-an-appointment/ to schedule an appointment.

How Diabetes Causes Kidney Disease

Each kidney is made up of millions of tiny filters called nephrons. Over time, high blood sugar from diabetes can damage blood vessels in the kidneys as well as nephrons so they dont work as well as they should. Many people with diabetes also develop high blood pressure, which can damage kidneys too.

CKD takes a long time to develop and usually doesnt have any signs or symptoms in the early stages. You wont know you have CKD unless your doctor checks you for it.

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Buying A Blood Glucose Meter For Peace Of Mind

More than 3 million people in the UK have been diagnosed with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, while up to half a million more are believed to have undiagnosed diabetes.

With prevalence of diabetes on the rise, more and more people are purchasing blood glucose meters simply for peace of mind.

A blood glucose meter gives users an accurate idea of their blood glucose levels, allowing them to check that they are within the recommended target ranges.

For people without diabetes, blood sugar readings should ideally be between:

• 4 and 6 mmol/L before meals
• Under 8 mmol/L two hours after meals

Dont Do Resistance Training To Get A High Blood Sugar Down

While resistance training is great for improving your insulin sensitivity, its not the appropriate type of exercise if youre looking to get a high blood sugar down quickly since it can make your blood sugar increase during your workout .

The spike in blood sugars that many people see during resistance training is only temporary, but not what you want if you are trying to lower your blood sugar.

I hope that this post has given you a good idea of how you can use exercise to lower your blood sugars, even if youre not on any medications, as well as given you an overview of which types of exercise if optimal for different goals. Now go have fun with it!

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What’s New In The Treatment Of Type 2 Diabetes

Doctors and researchers are developing new equipment and treatments to help kids deal with the special problems of growing up with diabetes.

Some kids and teens already use new devices that make blood glucose testing and insulin injections easier and more effective. One of these is the insulin pump, a mechanical device that can be programmed to deliver insulin more like the pancreas does.

Researchers are also testing ways to stop diabetes before it starts. For example, scientists are studying whether diabetes can be prevented in those who may have inherited an increased risk for the disease.

Replies On How Long Does Diabetes Take To Develop

Type two diabetes is generally pretty slow to progress. A lot depends on your diet and lifestyle. For me, it took years after the symptoms presented for my doctor to pronounce me, diabetic.

Yes, its possible, but not likely. If its a concern, just learn all you can about preventing it by visiting my diabetes info page:

BTW, It also has taken years for me to reverse the process to where I no longer have to take medication.

Yes its is possible

Type two diabetes is basically insulin resistance. If you have the genetics and eat a poor diet lacking in certain nutrients and high in useless calories, you will most likely become diabetic As the cells become more and more resistant to the action of the bodys insulin, glucose builds up in the blood thats diabetes. If this insulin resistance situation is allowed to go on too long, the bodys pancreas keeps producing more and more insulin in an effort to get that built up glucose into the cells. This is the beginning of type two. Most people, in this condition, dont even know they have it yet. Eventually, the pancreas cannot keep up and wears out, thats when the situation goes past the borderline, or pre-diabetes stage into full blown where medical attention is usually indicated. If caught early enough while the pancreas can still produce adequate amounts of insulin, a type two diabetic can manage with healthy diet and exercise alone.

For more on diabetes visit

How long is a piece of string?

Best of luck.

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Preventing Type 2 Diabetes

Being at risk doesnt mean you will definitely develop type 2 diabetes. Now is a great time to start making healthy changes to your lifestyle to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. Your healthcare team can support you in making these changes.

You can also call our helpline if you have any worries about being at risk of type 2 diabetes or for help with what to do next. And you could join our online forum to share your experiences with others who are at risk or have type 2 diabetes.

Here are some steps you can take to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future.