What Should I Expect If I Have Been Diagnosed With Diabetes
If you have diabetes, the most important thing you can do is keep your blood glucose level within the target range recommended by your healthcare provider. In general, these targets are:
- Before a meal: between 80 and 130 mg/dL.
- About two hours after the start of a meal: less than 180 mg/dL.
You will need to closely follow a treatment plan, which will likely include following a customized diet plan, exercising 30 minutes five times a week, quitting smoking, limiting alcohol and getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Always take your medications and insulin as instructed by your provider.
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.
Signs And Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes can be so mild that you don’t notice them. About 8 million people who have it don’t know it. Symptoms include:
- Being very thirsty
- Weight loss without trying
- Getting more infections
If you have dark rashes around your neck or armpits, see your doctor. These are called acanthosis nigricans, and they can be signs that your body is becoming resistant to insulin.
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Type 2 Diabetes Prevention
Adopting a healthy lifestyle can help you lower your risk of diabetes.
- Lose weight. Dropping just 7% to 10% of your weight can cut your risk of type 2 diabetes in half.
- Get active. Thirty minutes of brisk walking a day will cut your risk by almost a third.
- Eat right. Avoid highly processed carbs, sugary drinks, and trans and saturated fats. Limit red and processed meats.
- Quit smoking. Work with your doctor to keep from gaining weight after you quit, so you don’t create one problem by solving another.
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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What Is The Treatment For Type 2 Diabetes
Treatment for this type of diabetes can include:
- Diabetic eating plan
- Foot problems such as wounds that don’t heal, loss of feeling, or pins and needles sensations
- Neuropathy or nerve pain especially in the legs and feet
- Sexual issues such as erectile dysfunction, inability to orgasm or feel full sensation
- Urinary frequency
- Unusual odor to urine
If you have diabetes, you have a higher risk of heart disease and heart attack. Because of this, it is important to control cholesterol and high blood pressure in addition to blood sugar. The good news is that all of these diseases are responsive to healthy lifestyle changes.
Causes Of Type 2 Diabetes
Your pancreas makes a hormone called insulin. It helps your cells turn glucose, a type of sugar, from the food you eat into energy. People with type 2 diabetes make insulin, but their cells don’t use it as well as they should.
At first, your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get glucose into your cells. But eventually, it can’t keep up, and the glucose builds up in your blood instead.
Usually, a combination of things causes type 2 diabetes. They might include:
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Monitoring Blood Glucose Levels
Blood glucose levels can be measured easily at home or anywhere.
A fingerstick glucose test is most often used to monitor blood glucose. Most blood glucose monitoring devices use a drop of blood obtained by pricking the tip of the finger with a small lancet. The lancet holds a tiny needle that can be jabbed into the finger or placed in a spring-loaded device that easily and quickly pierces the skin. Most people find that the pricking causes only minimal discomfort. Then, a drop of blood is placed on a reagent strip. The strip contains chemicals that undergo changes depending on the glucose level. The glucose meter reads the changes in the test strip and reports the result on a digital display. Some devices allow the blood sample to be obtained from other sites, such as the palm, forearm, upper arm, thigh, or calf. Home glucose meters are smaller than a deck of cards.
Continuous glucose monitoring systems use a small glucose sensor placed under the skin. The sensor measures blood glucose levels every few minutes. There are two types of CGMs, with different purposes:
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Professional
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Personal
Professional CGMs collect continuous blood glucose information over a period of time . Health care providers use this information to make treatment recommendations. Professional CGMs do not provide data to the person with diabetes.
What Causes Type 2 Diabetes
Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into the cells in your body for use as energy. If you have type 2 diabetes, cells dont respond normally to insulin this is called insulin resistance. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually your pancreas cant keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. High blood sugar is damaging to the body and can cause other serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.
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Preeclampsia And Gestational Hypertension
A population-based, retrospective cohort study of 1,010,068 pregnant women examined the association between preeclampsia and gestational hypertension during pregnancy and the risk of developing diabetes post partum. Results showed the incidence rate of diabetes per 1000 person-years was 6.47 for women with preeclampsia and 5.26 for those with gestational hypertension, compared with 2.81 in women with neither condition. Risk was further elevated in women with preeclampsia or gesntational hypertension comorbid with gestational diabetes.
What Problems Can Happen With Type 2 Diabetes
Sometimes, kids and teens with type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, or obesity might develop thick, dark, velvet-like skin around the neck, armpits, groin, between fingers and toes, or on elbows and knees a cosmetic skin condition called acanthosis nigricans. This skin darkening can lighten over time with improvement in insulin resistance.
Polycystic ovary syndrome in girls is also often associated with insulin resistance. This hormone problem can make the ovaries become enlarged and develop cysts . Girls with PCOS might have irregular periods, might stop having periods, and may have excess facial and body hair growth. It also can cause fertility problems.
People with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes are also more likely to develop hypertension or abnormal levels of blood fats . When these problems cluster together, it’s called metabolic syndrome. People with metabolic syndrome are at risk for heart disease, stroke, and other health problems.
Diabetes also can cause heart disease and stroke, as well as other long-term complications, including eye problems, kidney disease, nerve damage, and gum disease. While these problems don’t usually show up in kids or teens who’ve had type 2 diabetes for only a few years, they can affect them in adulthood, particularly if their diabetes isn’t well controlled.
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Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes
There is no single cause of type 2 diabetes but some factors can put you at greater risk. They include:
- being age 40 or over
- being overweight
- having a family member who has diabetes
- having had gestational diabetes
- having given birth to a baby that weighed more than 4 kg at birth
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol or other fats in the blood or
- member of a high-risk ethnic group.
Main Symptoms Of Diabetes Mellitus
The common symptoms of Diabetes Mellitus are given below-The above diagram shows the areas affected and the symptoms by Diabetes. The main common symptoms associated with the Diabetes are below-
- Increased thirst.
- Hunger due to starvation of cells.
- Fatigue.
- Tingling sensation in the feet or the toes.
Complications of Diabetes Mellitus
The smallest blood vessels of the body are damaged due to the production of high blood sugar levels. This, in turn, leads to the decrease in the blood flow level in the body resulting in the death of tissues.This condition also affects the other parts of the body such as the heart, kidneys, nervous system etc. Hence it has a large effect on the immune system of the body by completely damaging it.
Necessary treatment for Diabetes Mellitus
- Frequently testing your blood sugar levels.
- Performing exercises regularly.
- Injecting insulin and other medications when required.
Hence by proper treatment and care, this disease can be considerably reduced to merely good extents.
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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.
How Often Do I Need To See My Primary Diabetes Healthcare Professional
In general, if you are being treated with insulin shots, you should see your doctor at least every three to four months. If you are treated with pills or are managing diabetes through diet, you should be seen at least every four to six months. More frequent visits may be needed if your blood sugar is not controlled or if complications of diabetes are worsening.
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Deterrence And Patient Education
Patients must be educated about the importance of blood glucose management to avoid complications associated with DM. Stress must be given on lifestyle management, including diet control and physical exercise. Self-monitoring of blood glucose is an important means for patients to take responsibility for their diabetes management. Regular estimation of glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and lipid levels is necessary.
Healthcare professionals should educate patients about the symptoms of hypoglycemia and required action .
Patients should be motivated to stop smoking. Emphasis is required on regular eye check-ups and foot care.
Type 2 Diabetes Treatments And Medications
Medications are often the first kind of medicine people with type 2 diabetes try when diet and exercise alone aren’t enough to keep their blood sugar in a healthy range. There are many of them, and they work in different ways.
Injectable drugs slow how quickly food leaves your stomach and make you feel full. And they tell your liver to back off making glucose around mealtimes.
- GLP-1 receptor agonists help your pancreas make insulin. Some of them you take every day, while others last a week.
- Pramlintide acts like a hormone, amylin, that your pancreas sends out with insulin. You only take it if you’re also using insulin.
Insulin therapy could be a short-term fix for a stressful situation or because other medicines aren’t enough to control their blood sugar. Types of insulin are grouped by how fast they start to work and how long their effects last. You might have to use more than one kind of insulin. Some insulins come pre-mixed.
You can take insulin in one of several ways:
Weight loss surgery gets rid of extra pounds. And that alone will help control your blood sugar. But it also raises the level of hormones in your gut called incretins. These tell your pancreas to make insulin. Over time, you may be able to take less medication. It isn’t for everyone, though. Doctors usually recommend weight loss surgery only for men who are at least 100 pounds overweight and women with at least 80 extra pounds.
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Type 2 Diabetes In Older Adults
Your risk of type 2 diabetes goes up as you age because your body can become resistant to insulin and your pancreas might not work as well as it used to.
Diabetes is more likely to cause complications in people 65 and older, especially heart attacks, eye problems, loss of a leg , and kidney disease.
Who Gets Diabetes What Are The Risk Factors
Factors that increase your risk differ depending on the type of diabetes you ultimately develop.
Risk factors for Type 1 diabetes include:
- Having a family history of Type 1 diabetes.
- Injury to the pancreas .
- Presence of autoantibodies .
- Physical stress .
- Exposure to illnesses caused by viruses.
Risk factors for prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes include:
- Family history of prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes.
- Being African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian-American race or Pacific Islander.
- Being overweight.
Risk factors for gestational diabetes include:
- Family history of prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes.
- Being African-American, Hispanic, Native American or Asian-American.
- Being overweight before your pregnancy.
- Being over 25 years of age.
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Can Diabetes Be Cured Or Reversed
Although these seem like simple questions, the answers are not so simple. Depending on the type of your diabetes and its specific cause, it may or may not be possible to reverse your diabetes. Successfully reversing diabetes is more commonly called achieving remission.
Type 1 diabetes is an immune system disease with some genetic component. This type of diabetes cant be reversed with traditional treatments. You need lifelong insulin to survive. Providing insulin through an artificial pancreas is the most advanced way of keeping glucose within a tight range at all times most closely mimicking the body. The closest thing toward a cure for Type 1 is a pancreas transplant or a pancreas islet transplant. Transplant candidates must meet strict criteria to be eligible. Its not an option for everyone and it requires taking immunosuppressant medications for life and dealing with the side effects of these drugs.
Its possible to reverse prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes with a lot of effort and motivation. Youd have to reverse all your risk factors for disease. To do this means a combination of losing weight, exercising regularly and eating healthy . These efforts should also lower your cholesterol numbers and blood pressure to within their normal range. Bariatric surgery has been shown to achieve remission in some people with Type 2 diabetes. This is a significant surgery that has its own risks and complications.
Heart And Artery Troubles
If you don’t treat diabetes with a healthy diet and exercise, you’re more likely to get plaque in your arteries than people who don’t have it. This sticky substance slows blood flow and increases your risk of clots. It leads to hardening of the arteries , which makes you more likely to have a heart attack or stroke. About 2 of 3 people with diabetes die of heart disease.
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Impaired Endothelial Function And Atherosclerosis Development
Endothelium plays an important role in the regulation of vascular tone and structure through a balanced release of endothelial-derived relaxing and contracting factors. This balance is altered in T2DM leading to alteration of the physicochemical properties of the vascular wall via endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, platelet hyperreactivity, and inflammation . These abnormalities lead to enhanced vasoconstriction, development of atherosclerosis, and favored thrombus formation .
6.2.1. Mechanisms Leading to Endothelial Dysfunction in T2DM
Vascular endothelial cells are particularly susceptible to developing intracellular hyperglycemia because glucose diffuses passively through their plasma membrane. In T2DM, the excess of glucose can be metabolized in the sorbitol pathway to sorbitol and fructose by aldose reductase, which activates the aldose reductase secondary metabolic pathway, with concomitant oxidation of NADPH to NADP+ and reduction of NAD+ to NADH. NADPH depletion and an increased NADH/NAD+ cytosolic ratio leads to a change in redox potential that accelerates glycolysis and increases de novo synthesis of DAG . As a result, protein kinase C is activated, nitric oxide is reduced. These effects cause vascular permeability and increase contractility. Simultaneously, the increased NADH/NAD+ ratio also results in higher production of O2, LDL oxidation, cytotoxic effects on endothelial cells and reduced NO availability, leading to endothelial dysfunction .