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Type 2 Diabetes Affects More Than 50 Million Americans Today
Type 2 diabetes, which represents nearly 96% of all cases of diabetes and
affects in excess of fifty million Americans, is predominantly seen in adults
over the age of forty. Nowadays, however, it is also being diagnosed
increasingly at younger ages, and even in very young children.
The
symptoms of type 2 diabetes are frequently quite mild in the early stages and it
is possible to suffer from type 2 diabetes for many months or years before it is
diagnosed. However, diabetes is a potentially serious condition and undiagnosed
type 2 diabetes can result in a variety of serious complications including renal
failure, blindness, wounds which do not heal and coronary artery
disease.
Studies show that about 1 in 5 adults over the age of 65 in the
US suffers from type 2 diabetes. The condition is more common amongst, Native
Americans, Hispanics, African Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites and is somewhat
more common in older women than in men.
The origin of type 2 diabetes is
a mystery and, although it is said that there is a genetic basis to the disease
this is much less clearly evident than it is in the case of type 1 diabetes.
There is however clear evidence that environmental factors play a large role in
the development of type 2 diabetes and this is particularly true when it comes
to obesity, insufficient exercise and an inactive lifestyle.
Many people
think that type 1 and type 2 diabetes are identical and that the difference lies
merely in the name, with type 1 diabetes being used when referring to the
disease in children and type 2 diabetes referring to the disease in adults.
However, this is not the case and, although there are a number of similarities,
type 1 and type 2 diabetes are entirely separate conditions and require quite
different treatment.
With type 1 diabetes the body cannot produce
insulin, which is needed for the transfer of glucose (the body's principle
source of energy) from the blood into the muscles and other cells of the body.
With type 2 diabetes the problem is not that the body is unable to produce
insulin but that the body develops a resistance to insulin.
Currently
there is no cure for type 2 diabetes which is a chronic condition and treatment
is thus aimed at managing the condition in order to reduce the rate of
complications several of which can be life-threatening. Additionally, treatment
is aimed at maintaining a good quality of life for the patient.
In the
first instant, sufferers from type 2 diabetes are treated with a carefully
designed program of diet and exercise (which includes a weight loss plan where
this is required) and this can be extremely effective in controlling glucose
levels within the blood and can generally improve a patient's sensitivity to
insulin considerably. When this treatment does not prove to be successful, or in
cases where the condition progresses, it is usually treated with a variety of
medication.
Summary
Donald Saunders - For more information on all aspects of diabetes including http://diabetes-treatment-and-cure.com/diabetes-articles/type-2-diabetes-symptoms.html
the symptoms of type 2 diabetes and http://diabetes-treatment-and-cure.com the treatment of
diabetes please visit Diabetes-Treatment-And-Cure.com
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