What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a common group of chronic metabolic diseases that cause high blood sugar (glucose) levels in the body due to defects in insulin production or function. Diabetes is also known as diabetes mellitus to distinguish it from a relatively rare metabolic disorder called diabetes insipidus that doesn’t affect blood sugar. Symptoms of diabetes occur when a lack of insulin or insulin resistance stops glucose from entering the cells and fueling and energizing the body. The resulting spike in glucose can result in symptoms such as increased hunger and thirst, weight loss, fatigue, and frequent infections. Long-term complications include kidney failure, nerve damage, and blindness.
Types of Diabetes
Diabetes is categorized into two main categories and one subcategory, but all are typified by problems of insulin resulting in high blood sugar levels in the body. The categories are:
Type 1 Diabetes
This type of diabetes is categorized as an autoimmune disease and occurs when the body’s misdirected immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Although genetic or environmental triggers are suspected, the exact cause of type 1 diabetes—once referred to as insulin-dependent or juvenile-onset diabetes—is not completely understood. Type 1 accounts for only five to 10 percent of diabetes cases in the United States, and while it can occur at any age, most patients are diagnosed as children or young adults. Those with type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to manage their condition.
Type 2 Diabetes
This type most often develops gradually with age and is characterized by insulin resistance in the body. Because of this resistance, the body’s fat, liver, and muscle cells are unable to take in and store glucose, which is used for energy. The glucose remains in the blood. The abnormal buildup of glucose (blood sugar) can result in hyperglycemia and impaired body functions. Type 2 diabetes occurs most often in people who are overweight because fat interferes with the body’s ability to use insulin, but it also can occur in thin people and the elderly. Family history and genetics play a major role in type 2 diabetes, and inactivity and poor diet can also increase the risk.
Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes is defined as blood-sugar elevation during pregnancy and is known to affect about three to eight percent of women. Left undiagnosed or untreated, it can lead to problems such as high birth weight and breathing problems for the baby. Gestational diabetes usually resolves in the mother after the baby is born, but statistics show that women who have gestational diabetes have a much greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes within five to 10 years.
Prediabetes
This condition is marked by blood sugar levels that are too high to be considered normal but are not yet high enough to be in the range of a typical diabetes diagnosis. Prediabetes increases not only your risk of developing diabetes but also heart disease.
Diabetes Symptoms
Diabetes symptoms occur when glucose (blood sugar) levels in the body become abnormally elevated. The most common symptoms of diabetes include thirst, fatigue, frequent or increased urination, and blurry vision, but symptoms do vary from one person to the next and depend on which type of diabetes you have. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes tend to begin abruptly and dramatically. In type 2 diabetes, the symptoms are similar but develop slowly, or there may be no symptoms at all. It is common for no symptoms to be present in gestational diabetes. In some cases, your symptoms may seem vague or harmless. It is essential that if you experience one or more of these symptoms on a regular basis, you see your doctor immediately for a diabetes screening and blood tests.
Common Diabetes Symptoms
Thirst/Dehydration
Diabetes causes your blood glucose levels to rise. Increased glucose levels cause your body to pull fluid from your cells into the bloodstream and deliver the increased load to your kidneys, causing them to produce more urine than normal. Frequent urination, another common symptom, causes you to feel thirsty and thus drink more liquids, compounding the problem.
Weight loss
Your body’s inability to properly use the glucose generated from the foods you eat, as well as the significant number of calories lost to increased urination, cause your body to break down other energy sources available—such as fat—which can result in weight loss. You may be eating normally and constantly feel hungry yet continue to lose weight.
Fatigue
Glucose is a primary source of fuel for the body. If you have diabetes, your body’s inability to convert glucose into energy will inevitably lead to fatigue, ranging from a general worn-down feeling to exhaustion.
Blurred Vision
Abnormally high glucose levels in the blood can also lead to eye problems such as swelling of the lens, which causes blurred vision. Adequately controlling your blood sugar levels can help correct this symptom over time. Left undetected, though, diabetes can lead to more serious eye problems such as cataracts, glaucoma, and retinopathy. In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults age 20 to 74.
Recurring Infections
High glucose levels in your body’s tissues may hinder the body’s ability to heal and make you more susceptible to various kinds of bacteria and infections, especially of the skin, kidneys, bladder, and feet.
Advanced Diabetes Symptoms
Although some people with diabetes may have no symptoms or mild symptoms that seem relatively harmless, untreated diabetes can result in dangerously high levels of blood sugar, called ketoacidosis. (Ketoacidosis is rare in type 2 diabetes because insulin is still being produced.) This condition can cause:
Lack of Insulin
This is specific to type 1 diabetes. It occurs when insulin-producing beta-cells are damaged or destroyed and stop producing insulin. Insulin is needed to move blood sugar into cells throughout the body. The resulting insulin deficiency leads to elevated glucose in the blood and prevents the body from being fueled properly.
Insulin Resistance
This is specific to type 2 diabetes. It occurs when insulin is produced normally in the pancreas, but the body is unable to use it properly and move it into the cells for fuel. At first, the beta cells will produce more insulin in an attempt to overcome the body’s resistance to it, but over time, the cells will eventually “wear out.” At that point the body decreases its insulin production, which leads to elevated glucose levels in the blood.
Pregnancy
A small percentage—studies show less than eight percent—of pregnant women may develop gestational diabetes. Hormones developed in the placenta interfere with the body’s normal insulin response and lead to insulin resistance and high levels of glucose in the blood.
Genetics
Inherited risk factors are believed to be a factor in causing all types of diabetes, but because most people with these risk factors do not develop the disease, researchers believe environmental triggers—diet and even climate—may also play a role. Genetics are believed to play an even stronger role in type 2 diabetes, in which family history is one of the leading factors. At the same time, type 2 diabetes also has a stronger environmental basis than type 1 diabetes. In other words, a family history of type 2 diabetes is a hugely important risk factor, but only in western cultures where high-fat diets and sedentary lifestyles are common. People living in non-western cultures rarely develop type 2 diabetes, no matter what their genetic risk.
Diabetes Risk Factors
Diabetes affects more than 20 million Americans, and 57 million Americans have prediabetes (early type 2 diabetes). There are many common risk factors to both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but some are more specific to one or the other. Here’s a comprehensive overview of risk factors.
Family History
Genetics play a role in determining how likely you are to develop some type of diabetes. Although researchers don’t fully understand the role of genetics in the development of diabetes, statistics show that if you have a parent or sibling with diabetes, your odds of developing it yourself increase.
Age
According to the American Diabetes Association, about one in 13 people in the United States have diabetes. But statistics show that your risk of type 2 diabetes increases as you get older, especially after age 45. In fact, more than 80 percent of cases occur in people over age 45, though recent statistics indicate that the incidence of type 2 diabetes is increasing dramatically among children, adolescents, and younger adults. Likely factors include reduced exercise, decreased muscle mass, and weight gain as you age. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed by the age of 30.
Obesity
Excess body fat—especially around your middle—can lead to insulin resistance and increased blood sugar levels. Research suggests that excess fatty tissue can trigger inflammation in the body that leads to insulin resistance. But many people who are overweight never develop diabetes, so research remains inconclusive on the link between obesity and diabetes.
Poor Diet
Studies have shown that malnutrition—especially low protein and fiber intake—is a contributing factor in developing type 2 diabetes. A diet high in calories, fat, and cholesterol raises your risk, as does obesity, which increases your body’s resistance to insulin.
Lack of Exercise
Studies show that exercise makes muscle tissue more responsive to insulin, which is why regular exercise such as aerobic and/or resistance training can help lower your risk of diabetes. Talk to your healthcare provider about an exercise plan that’s right for you.
Ethnicity
Although research is inconclusive, some ethnic groups (particularly African Americans, Native Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanic Americans) have a higher incidence of diabetes.
Gestational Diabetes
Women who develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy are at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Women who deliver a baby weighing more than 9 pounds are also at greater risk.
Diabetes Diagnosis
The results of specific glucose tests play a major role in diagnosing diabetes. These tests include:
Diabetes Tests
A series of urine and blood tests are used to diagnose all types of diabetes.
Fasting Blood Glucose (FPG) Test
This is one of the most common and preferred tests; it measures blood glucose in a person who has not eaten anything for at least eight hours. Both diabetes and prediabetes can be diagnosed this way. A blood glucose level of 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or higher indicates diabetes.
Random (Non-fasting) Plasma Glucose Test
This measures blood glucose without fasting. This test, along with an assessment of symptoms, is used to diagnose diabetes but not prediabetes. A blood glucose level of 200 mg/dL or higher indicates diabetes.
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)
This blood glucose test, administered after fasting for at least eight hours, is performed two hours after drinking a glucose-containing beverage. It is also common to test blood prior to the glucose drink and then every 30 to 60 minutes afterwards for up to three hours. Both diabetes and prediabetes can be diagnosed this way, and it is routinely used to screen for gestational diabetes. A blood glucose level of 200 mg/dL or higher (two hours after drinking a beverage containing 75 grams of glucose) indicates diabetes. Because glucose levels are normally lower during pregnancy, gestational diabetes is based on slightly different numbers: 155 mg/dL two hours after drinking the glucose beverage.
Glycated Hemoglobin (A1C) Test
The higher your blood sugar levels, the more hemoglobin you’ll have with sugar attached. The A1C test measures the percentage of blood sugar attached to hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. The goal of the A1C test is to measure your average glucose levels for two to three months. A long-term average can be more accurate than a one-time test. An A1C level of 6.5 percent or higher on two separate tests indicates you have diabetes.
Urine Test
Although this test alone cannot diagnose diabetes, a urine analysis for abnormal levels of glucose and ketones from the breakdown of fat is often used as part of an overall diagnosis.
Diabetes Treatments
There is no cure for diabetes, but it usually can be treated and managed effectively. In fact, some people with mild type 2 diabetes can manage their condition with just diet and exercise and can avoid even having to take medication. Your healthcare provider will consider a comprehensive list of factors—your age; overall health; medical history; type of diabetes; extent of the disease; tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies; expectations for the course of the disease; and your opinion or preferences—when assessing your treatment options. Treatments primarily involve diabetes medication, insulin therapy, and/or a diet and exercise plan.
Diabetes Drugs
Several different classes of oral medications are available to treat type 2 diabetes, and they are effective because these patients still have some ability to produce insulin in the pancreas. There are many types of diabetes pills, each with a specific purpose, and most patients take several different medications. There are no similar medications to treat people with type 1 diabetes. However, these medications may be used in combination with an insulin regime to manage blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetics. Learn more about drugs that lower blood sugar levels.
Insulin Therapy
Insulin therapy is needed for people with type 1 diabetes because their pancreases no longer produce it naturally. In type 2 diabetics, the pancreas produces low levels of insulin and may need lower levels of insulin therapy if other types of treatment do not adequately maintain healthy glucose levels.
Because stomach enzymes interfere with insulin, ingesting insulin orally isn’t effective in lowering blood sugar in diabetics. Insulin must be directly introduced into the bloodstream via injection. Common forms of delivery include a needle and syringe, an insulin pen that contains an insulin cartridge, or an insulin pump that continuously administers proper doses.
Not all insulin is the same. They differentiate from each other by several factors: when the isulin begins working after injection, when it works the hardest, and how long it lingers in the body. For these reasons, your doctor may prescribe different types of insulin to use at different times of the day. These include:
Regularly checking your blood sugar level is the only way to know if your blood sugar levels remain within your target range. Food, exercise, medications, illnesses, alcohol, time of day, and stress can all affect your glucose levels, causing many unwanted fluctuations.
The more you test your blood sugar and know how your body responds to those factors, the safer you will be. Also, paying attention to any signs of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) can help manage your diabetes. Should you experience symptoms of either, immediately check your glucose level.
You doctor also may recommend regular testing, beyond your regular blood-sugar monitoring, of how effective your diabetes treatment plan is. A common way to do this through called A1C testing. It is not only the international standard for a diabetes diagnosis, but it measures your average blood sugar level over a period of two to three months. The test determines if changes need to be made to diet, insulin regimen, or other factors. While a patient’s target A1C goal varies depending on age and other factors, the American Diabetes Association recommends an A1C reading of below seven percent for most people.
Diet
Diet plays a crucial part in managing diabetes. However, no single diet is perfect for everyone. Diabetics, possibly in conjunction with advice from a dietician, should stick to highly nutritious foods that are low in fat and calories, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Limiting animal products and sugars also helps in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. Balancing proportionate amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, sugars, and fats are key to managing diabetes. Regular blood sugar monitoring after meals can help you and your doctor or dietician discover the foods are best for you and those you should avoid.
Exercise
Exercise helps diabetics by lowering their blood sugar. Physical activity not only helps maintain a healthy weight, but it also transports sugar to cells where it is turned into energy. Along with this, aerobic exercise increases a person’s sensitivity to insulin. With exercise, a person’s body needs less insulin to transport sugar. While every person’s diabetes treatment varies, getting about 30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day can help manage your diabetes. As with any part of your diabetes treatment, work with your doctor on an exercise program that fits your age and fitness level.
Pancreas Transplant
Pancreas transplants are usually reserved for people whose diabetes has become so severe that it is unmanageable through traditional treatments. As with any organ transplants, pancreas transplants require immune system-suppressing drugs to prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. Those drugs increase the likelihood of serious side effects, including infection, organ injury, and even cancer. However, if a pancreas transplant is successful, the patient no longer will need insulin treatment because the new pancreas will naturally produce insulin and regulate glucose.
Diabetes is a common group of chronic metabolic diseases that cause high blood sugar (glucose) levels in the body due to defects in insulin production or function. Diabetes is also known as diabetes mellitus to distinguish it from a relatively rare metabolic disorder called diabetes insipidus that doesn’t affect blood sugar. Symptoms of diabetes occur when a lack of insulin or insulin resistance stops glucose from entering the cells and fueling and energizing the body. The resulting spike in glucose can result in symptoms such as increased hunger and thirst, weight loss, fatigue, and frequent infections. Long-term complications include kidney failure, nerve damage, and blindness.
Types of Diabetes
Diabetes is categorized into two main categories and one subcategory, but all are typified by problems of insulin resulting in high blood sugar levels in the body. The categories are:
Type 1 Diabetes
This type of diabetes is categorized as an autoimmune disease and occurs when the body’s misdirected immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Although genetic or environmental triggers are suspected, the exact cause of type 1 diabetes—once referred to as insulin-dependent or juvenile-onset diabetes—is not completely understood. Type 1 accounts for only five to 10 percent of diabetes cases in the United States, and while it can occur at any age, most patients are diagnosed as children or young adults. Those with type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to manage their condition.
Type 2 Diabetes
This type most often develops gradually with age and is characterized by insulin resistance in the body. Because of this resistance, the body’s fat, liver, and muscle cells are unable to take in and store glucose, which is used for energy. The glucose remains in the blood. The abnormal buildup of glucose (blood sugar) can result in hyperglycemia and impaired body functions. Type 2 diabetes occurs most often in people who are overweight because fat interferes with the body’s ability to use insulin, but it also can occur in thin people and the elderly. Family history and genetics play a major role in type 2 diabetes, and inactivity and poor diet can also increase the risk.
Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes is defined as blood-sugar elevation during pregnancy and is known to affect about three to eight percent of women. Left undiagnosed or untreated, it can lead to problems such as high birth weight and breathing problems for the baby. Gestational diabetes usually resolves in the mother after the baby is born, but statistics show that women who have gestational diabetes have a much greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes within five to 10 years.
Prediabetes
This condition is marked by blood sugar levels that are too high to be considered normal but are not yet high enough to be in the range of a typical diabetes diagnosis. Prediabetes increases not only your risk of developing diabetes but also heart disease.
Diabetes Symptoms
Diabetes symptoms occur when glucose (blood sugar) levels in the body become abnormally elevated. The most common symptoms of diabetes include thirst, fatigue, frequent or increased urination, and blurry vision, but symptoms do vary from one person to the next and depend on which type of diabetes you have. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes tend to begin abruptly and dramatically. In type 2 diabetes, the symptoms are similar but develop slowly, or there may be no symptoms at all. It is common for no symptoms to be present in gestational diabetes. In some cases, your symptoms may seem vague or harmless. It is essential that if you experience one or more of these symptoms on a regular basis, you see your doctor immediately for a diabetes screening and blood tests.
Common Diabetes Symptoms
Thirst/Dehydration
Diabetes causes your blood glucose levels to rise. Increased glucose levels cause your body to pull fluid from your cells into the bloodstream and deliver the increased load to your kidneys, causing them to produce more urine than normal. Frequent urination, another common symptom, causes you to feel thirsty and thus drink more liquids, compounding the problem.
Weight loss
Your body’s inability to properly use the glucose generated from the foods you eat, as well as the significant number of calories lost to increased urination, cause your body to break down other energy sources available—such as fat—which can result in weight loss. You may be eating normally and constantly feel hungry yet continue to lose weight.
Fatigue
Glucose is a primary source of fuel for the body. If you have diabetes, your body’s inability to convert glucose into energy will inevitably lead to fatigue, ranging from a general worn-down feeling to exhaustion.
Blurred Vision
Abnormally high glucose levels in the blood can also lead to eye problems such as swelling of the lens, which causes blurred vision. Adequately controlling your blood sugar levels can help correct this symptom over time. Left undetected, though, diabetes can lead to more serious eye problems such as cataracts, glaucoma, and retinopathy. In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults age 20 to 74.
Recurring Infections
High glucose levels in your body’s tissues may hinder the body’s ability to heal and make you more susceptible to various kinds of bacteria and infections, especially of the skin, kidneys, bladder, and feet.
Advanced Diabetes Symptoms
Although some people with diabetes may have no symptoms or mild symptoms that seem relatively harmless, untreated diabetes can result in dangerously high levels of blood sugar, called ketoacidosis. (Ketoacidosis is rare in type 2 diabetes because insulin is still being produced.) This condition can cause:
- Deep, rapid breathing
- Nausea or vomiting
- Stomach pain
- Flushed complexion
- Confusion
- Bad breath
- Coma
- Fainting
- Rapid heartbeat
- Sweating
- Dizziness and trembling
- Confusion
- Anxiety
- Drowsiness
- Cramps
Lack of Insulin
This is specific to type 1 diabetes. It occurs when insulin-producing beta-cells are damaged or destroyed and stop producing insulin. Insulin is needed to move blood sugar into cells throughout the body. The resulting insulin deficiency leads to elevated glucose in the blood and prevents the body from being fueled properly.
Insulin Resistance
This is specific to type 2 diabetes. It occurs when insulin is produced normally in the pancreas, but the body is unable to use it properly and move it into the cells for fuel. At first, the beta cells will produce more insulin in an attempt to overcome the body’s resistance to it, but over time, the cells will eventually “wear out.” At that point the body decreases its insulin production, which leads to elevated glucose levels in the blood.
Pregnancy
A small percentage—studies show less than eight percent—of pregnant women may develop gestational diabetes. Hormones developed in the placenta interfere with the body’s normal insulin response and lead to insulin resistance and high levels of glucose in the blood.
Genetics
Inherited risk factors are believed to be a factor in causing all types of diabetes, but because most people with these risk factors do not develop the disease, researchers believe environmental triggers—diet and even climate—may also play a role. Genetics are believed to play an even stronger role in type 2 diabetes, in which family history is one of the leading factors. At the same time, type 2 diabetes also has a stronger environmental basis than type 1 diabetes. In other words, a family history of type 2 diabetes is a hugely important risk factor, but only in western cultures where high-fat diets and sedentary lifestyles are common. People living in non-western cultures rarely develop type 2 diabetes, no matter what their genetic risk.
Diabetes Risk Factors
Diabetes affects more than 20 million Americans, and 57 million Americans have prediabetes (early type 2 diabetes). There are many common risk factors to both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but some are more specific to one or the other. Here’s a comprehensive overview of risk factors.
Family History
Genetics play a role in determining how likely you are to develop some type of diabetes. Although researchers don’t fully understand the role of genetics in the development of diabetes, statistics show that if you have a parent or sibling with diabetes, your odds of developing it yourself increase.
Age
According to the American Diabetes Association, about one in 13 people in the United States have diabetes. But statistics show that your risk of type 2 diabetes increases as you get older, especially after age 45. In fact, more than 80 percent of cases occur in people over age 45, though recent statistics indicate that the incidence of type 2 diabetes is increasing dramatically among children, adolescents, and younger adults. Likely factors include reduced exercise, decreased muscle mass, and weight gain as you age. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed by the age of 30.
Obesity
Excess body fat—especially around your middle—can lead to insulin resistance and increased blood sugar levels. Research suggests that excess fatty tissue can trigger inflammation in the body that leads to insulin resistance. But many people who are overweight never develop diabetes, so research remains inconclusive on the link between obesity and diabetes.
Poor Diet
Studies have shown that malnutrition—especially low protein and fiber intake—is a contributing factor in developing type 2 diabetes. A diet high in calories, fat, and cholesterol raises your risk, as does obesity, which increases your body’s resistance to insulin.
Lack of Exercise
Studies show that exercise makes muscle tissue more responsive to insulin, which is why regular exercise such as aerobic and/or resistance training can help lower your risk of diabetes. Talk to your healthcare provider about an exercise plan that’s right for you.
Ethnicity
Although research is inconclusive, some ethnic groups (particularly African Americans, Native Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanic Americans) have a higher incidence of diabetes.
Gestational Diabetes
Women who develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy are at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Women who deliver a baby weighing more than 9 pounds are also at greater risk.
Diabetes Diagnosis
The results of specific glucose tests play a major role in diagnosing diabetes. These tests include:
- Fasting blood glucose test
- Random (non-fasting) glucose test
- Oral glucose tolerance test
- Glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test
- Urine test
Diabetes Tests
A series of urine and blood tests are used to diagnose all types of diabetes.
Fasting Blood Glucose (FPG) Test
This is one of the most common and preferred tests; it measures blood glucose in a person who has not eaten anything for at least eight hours. Both diabetes and prediabetes can be diagnosed this way. A blood glucose level of 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or higher indicates diabetes.
Random (Non-fasting) Plasma Glucose Test
This measures blood glucose without fasting. This test, along with an assessment of symptoms, is used to diagnose diabetes but not prediabetes. A blood glucose level of 200 mg/dL or higher indicates diabetes.
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)
This blood glucose test, administered after fasting for at least eight hours, is performed two hours after drinking a glucose-containing beverage. It is also common to test blood prior to the glucose drink and then every 30 to 60 minutes afterwards for up to three hours. Both diabetes and prediabetes can be diagnosed this way, and it is routinely used to screen for gestational diabetes. A blood glucose level of 200 mg/dL or higher (two hours after drinking a beverage containing 75 grams of glucose) indicates diabetes. Because glucose levels are normally lower during pregnancy, gestational diabetes is based on slightly different numbers: 155 mg/dL two hours after drinking the glucose beverage.
Glycated Hemoglobin (A1C) Test
The higher your blood sugar levels, the more hemoglobin you’ll have with sugar attached. The A1C test measures the percentage of blood sugar attached to hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. The goal of the A1C test is to measure your average glucose levels for two to three months. A long-term average can be more accurate than a one-time test. An A1C level of 6.5 percent or higher on two separate tests indicates you have diabetes.
Urine Test
Although this test alone cannot diagnose diabetes, a urine analysis for abnormal levels of glucose and ketones from the breakdown of fat is often used as part of an overall diagnosis.
Diabetes Treatments
There is no cure for diabetes, but it usually can be treated and managed effectively. In fact, some people with mild type 2 diabetes can manage their condition with just diet and exercise and can avoid even having to take medication. Your healthcare provider will consider a comprehensive list of factors—your age; overall health; medical history; type of diabetes; extent of the disease; tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies; expectations for the course of the disease; and your opinion or preferences—when assessing your treatment options. Treatments primarily involve diabetes medication, insulin therapy, and/or a diet and exercise plan.
Diabetes Drugs
Several different classes of oral medications are available to treat type 2 diabetes, and they are effective because these patients still have some ability to produce insulin in the pancreas. There are many types of diabetes pills, each with a specific purpose, and most patients take several different medications. There are no similar medications to treat people with type 1 diabetes. However, these medications may be used in combination with an insulin regime to manage blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetics. Learn more about drugs that lower blood sugar levels.
Insulin Therapy
Insulin therapy is needed for people with type 1 diabetes because their pancreases no longer produce it naturally. In type 2 diabetics, the pancreas produces low levels of insulin and may need lower levels of insulin therapy if other types of treatment do not adequately maintain healthy glucose levels.
Because stomach enzymes interfere with insulin, ingesting insulin orally isn’t effective in lowering blood sugar in diabetics. Insulin must be directly introduced into the bloodstream via injection. Common forms of delivery include a needle and syringe, an insulin pen that contains an insulin cartridge, or an insulin pump that continuously administers proper doses.
Not all insulin is the same. They differentiate from each other by several factors: when the isulin begins working after injection, when it works the hardest, and how long it lingers in the body. For these reasons, your doctor may prescribe different types of insulin to use at different times of the day. These include:
- rapid-acting insulin
- short-acting insulin
- long-acting insulin
- intermediate options
Regularly checking your blood sugar level is the only way to know if your blood sugar levels remain within your target range. Food, exercise, medications, illnesses, alcohol, time of day, and stress can all affect your glucose levels, causing many unwanted fluctuations.
The more you test your blood sugar and know how your body responds to those factors, the safer you will be. Also, paying attention to any signs of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) can help manage your diabetes. Should you experience symptoms of either, immediately check your glucose level.
You doctor also may recommend regular testing, beyond your regular blood-sugar monitoring, of how effective your diabetes treatment plan is. A common way to do this through called A1C testing. It is not only the international standard for a diabetes diagnosis, but it measures your average blood sugar level over a period of two to three months. The test determines if changes need to be made to diet, insulin regimen, or other factors. While a patient’s target A1C goal varies depending on age and other factors, the American Diabetes Association recommends an A1C reading of below seven percent for most people.
Diet
Diet plays a crucial part in managing diabetes. However, no single diet is perfect for everyone. Diabetics, possibly in conjunction with advice from a dietician, should stick to highly nutritious foods that are low in fat and calories, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Limiting animal products and sugars also helps in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. Balancing proportionate amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, sugars, and fats are key to managing diabetes. Regular blood sugar monitoring after meals can help you and your doctor or dietician discover the foods are best for you and those you should avoid.
Exercise
Exercise helps diabetics by lowering their blood sugar. Physical activity not only helps maintain a healthy weight, but it also transports sugar to cells where it is turned into energy. Along with this, aerobic exercise increases a person’s sensitivity to insulin. With exercise, a person’s body needs less insulin to transport sugar. While every person’s diabetes treatment varies, getting about 30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day can help manage your diabetes. As with any part of your diabetes treatment, work with your doctor on an exercise program that fits your age and fitness level.
Pancreas Transplant
Pancreas transplants are usually reserved for people whose diabetes has become so severe that it is unmanageable through traditional treatments. As with any organ transplants, pancreas transplants require immune system-suppressing drugs to prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. Those drugs increase the likelihood of serious side effects, including infection, organ injury, and even cancer. However, if a pancreas transplant is successful, the patient no longer will need insulin treatment because the new pancreas will naturally produce insulin and regulate glucose.
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