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Managing Type 2 Diabetes

August 26, 2007 by Max Peykar

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Are you 45 years old or more? Along with the age factor do you also happen to be overweight? Is your blood pressure somewhat between 140/90 and more? Your good cholesterol, HDL, is 35 or lower and your bad cholesterol is 250 or more? Your siblings or parents have diabetes or your family background is American Indian, Hispanic American/Latino, African American, Pacific Islander or Asian American? Have any child born to you ever had diabetes at birth? To top it all you don’t exercise more than three times a week! Well, according to the information available on Type 2 diabetes you are the perfect victim for it to strike you!

You may know that there are basically two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2.

Type 2 diabetes begins generally when the individual is adult and the pancreas produce insulin but the production is not be proper or the body is not be utilizing it properly.

The most common form of diabetes in adults is type 2 diabetes. Although it is called adult diabetes but it can set in even small children. The cause of Type 2 of diabetes is very simple.

According to the research on Type 2 diabetes, in the beginning your body starts resisting the use of insulin which is produces in the pancreas. The liver, muscle and the fat cells stop using insulin properly. In the beginning of the problem the pancreas adjust and try to keep up by producing more insulin but later gives up. It loses its ability to fight any longer and stops producing enough insulin. You may experience symptoms of diabetes like frequent urination, thirst, hunger, fatigue and irritability.

There is a test called Fasting Plasma Glucose Test for checking whether you are suffering from diabetes. For this test you have to stay without food for at least 8 hours. In another test called Oral Glucose Tolerance Test you stay without food for 8 hours, but 2 hours before the test you take glucose based drink. Both the tests are for diagnosing diabetes or pre diabetes.

There is another test called Random Plasma Glucose Test where the test is done irrespective of your food intake. However pre diabetes is not diagnosed by this test.

The basic treatment of diabetes (both types) is having a healthy life style. You must eat sensibly (high fiber, low sugar, salt and fat diet) and do regular exercises.

Apart from this, in Type 1 the doctors prescribe insulin and in Type 2 diabetes they stress more on reducing weight, maintaining a healthy diet and exercises. When all this fails then oral medicines are given to maintain your increased blood glucose.