Type II diabetes is an epidemic in the world today. Type II diabetes accounts for 90% of the people with diabetes around the world.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 346 million people worldwide have diabetes and studies from 2004 showed that an estimated 3.4 million people had died from the consequences of high blood sugar. It is predicted that diabetes deaths will double between 2005 and 2030.
This epidemic is largely due to excess body weight and physical inactivity, along with some genetic factors. Luckily, if a person maintains a normal weight, keeps a healthy diabetes ii diet, stays physically active, and avoids using tobacco, they can either prevent or delay the onset of type II diabetes. If more people were to live their lives this way, the numbers of people with diabetes would drop dramatically.
Diabetes II results from the body’s ineffective use of insulin. Insulin is the hormone which allows cells to take in glucose (sugar) from the blood and create energy for the body to use. When this sugar is not utilized, it remains in the bloodstream and damages the body. Primarily it affects the nerves and blood vessels, but since these are interconnected with all parts of the body, any number of body parts may be affected.
Diabetes II Symptoms
According to the National Institutes of Health, many people with diabetes don’t even know that they have the disease. This is not surprising, since many symptoms of type II diabetes can be easily overlooked. That means it is even more important that people know what to look for. The earlier symptoms of diabetes II are recognized and a type IIdiabetes diagnosis is made, the higher the likeliness that major complications which stem from the disease can be avoided. Type II diabetes symptoms include:
- Frequent urination
- Excess thirst
- Constant hunger
- Unexplained weight loss
- Vision changes
- Fatigue
Diabetes I and II
Although the symptoms and complications of type I and type II diabetes are similar, the underlying causes of each are different. Type I diabetes occurs when the islet cells or the entire pancreas of a person’s body is destroyed. This can happen for a number of reason, but typically it caused by an autoimmunity condition in which the body’s own immune system attacks and destroys the cells of the pancreas.
Type II diabetes, on the other hand, results from the islet cells of the body being overworked. When a person gains a lot of weight, is not eating right, or lives a sedentary lifestyle, the cells cannot keep up with large amounts of sugar in the blood and become insulin resistant. Insulin resistance is the main cause of type II diabetes.
