How to recognize Type II diabetes

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is more common than Type 1 diabetes (T1D) with about 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes having T2D. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report, 30.3 million Americans, or 9.4% of the U.S. population have diabetes. More alarming, an estimated 84 million more American adults have prediabetes, which if not treated, will advance to diabetes within five years.

There are several key differences between T2D and T1D. The most important difference involves the role of insulin. Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that allows your body to use sugar from carbohydrates in the food that you eat for energy or to store for future use. Insulin helps keeps your blood sugar level from getting too high or too low.

People with T1D are unable to produce any insulin at all. People with T2D still produce insulin, however, the cells in the muscles, liver and fat tissue are inefficient at absorbing the insulin and cannot regulate sugar well – this is called insulin resistance. As a result, the body tries to compensate by having the pancreas pump out more insulin. But the pancreas slowly loses the ability to produce enough insulin, and as a result, the cells don’t get the energy they need to function properly.

Type 2 diabetes is usually associated with being overweight and is harder to control when food choices are not adjusted, and there’s no physical activity. And while it’s true that too much body fat and physical inactivity can increase the likelihood of developing T2D, even people who are fit and trim can develop this type of diabetes.

Symptoms of T2D

The symptoms of type 2 diabetes develop gradually—in fact, so gradually that it’s possible to miss them altogether. Here are some of the common symptoms of T2D:

• Fatigue: Your body isn’t getting the energy it needs from the food you’re eating, so you may feel very tired.
• Extreme thirst: No matter how much you drink, it feels like you’re still dehydrated. When there’s too much sugar in your blood your body pulls fluid from the tissues to try to dilute the blood and counteract the high sugar. This is also associated with increased urination.
• Frequent urination: This is related to drinking so much to satisfy your thirst. Since you’re drinking more, you’ll have to urinate more. Additionally, the body will try to get rid of the excess sugar through urination.
• Extreme hunger: Even after you eat, you may still feel very hungry. That’s because your muscles aren’t getting the energy they need from the food; your body’s insulin resistance keeps glucose from entering the muscle and providing energy. Therefore, the muscles and other tissues send a “hunger” message, trying to get more energy into the body.
• Weight loss: You may be eating more but still losing weight. Since your body isn’t getting energy from food, it turns to muscles and fat and starts to break them down to create energy. That will cause you to lose weight.
• Infections: The effects of T2D make it harder for your body to fight off an infection, so you may experience frequent infections. Women may have frequent vaginal yeast and bladder infections.  That’s because fungi and bacteria can flourish when there are high levels of sugar in the blood.
• Slow wound healing: Like the body’s inability to fight off infections, it might take longer for wounds to heal. The high blood sugar level affects how well the white blood cells (which oversee healing wounds).
• Blurry vision: To get more fluid into the blood to counteract the high sugar level, your body may pull fluid from the eyes. You may have trouble focusing then, leading to blurry vision.

These are some of the more common symptoms associated with T2D, but you may not experience all of them. If you’re concerned about your health and think you may have diabetes, Primary Care Clinic can assess, diagnose and prepare a treatment plan for you. Call 731-265-6197 in Jackson and 731-669-3863 in Trezevant  for an appointment or walk-ins are welcome.