What is Type 2 Diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic condition caused by too much glucose in the blood.
The amount of glucose in the blood is controlled by a hormone, insulin, which is produced by the pancreas. When food is digested, insulin moves glucose out of the blood and into the cells, where it is broken down to produce energy.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when not enough insulin is produced by the body, or when the body’s cells do not react to insulin. Obesity is a large factor in developing type 2 diabetes.
How common is Type 2 Diabetes?
Diabetes affects around 2.8million people in the UK, and around 90% of adults in the UK with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.
What are the symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes?
The main symptoms of diabetes are feeling very thirsty, needing to urinate a lot, fatigue, weight loss, thrush, blurred vision and cuts and sores taking longer to heal. People can have type 2 diabetes for years without knowing it because these symptoms are quite general.
How is Type 2 Diabetes treated?
Many people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes will need to make changes to their lifestyle, including regular exercise, eating a healthy diet and losing weight if you are obese. This may be sufficient to maintain blood glucose levels.
Type 2 diabetes generally gets worse over time, and sufferers may need medications to reduce high levels of glucose.
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