If you have type 2 diabetes, your risk of developing heart disease, stroke, foot problems, eye and kidney disease is increased. To reduce your risk of developing other serious health conditions, you may be advised to take other medicines, including: anti-hypertensive medicines to control high blood pressure.
Common diabetes health complications include heart disease, chronic kidney disease, nerve damage, and other problems with feet, oral health, vision, hearing, and mental health. Learn how to prevent or delay these diabetes complications and how to improve overall health.
Untreated Type 2 diabetes can lead to a range of life-threatening health conditions. Diabetes requires lifelong management.
Regularly having high blood sugar levels for long periods of time (over months or years) can result in permanent damage to parts of the body such as the eyes, nerves, kidneys and blood vessels. If you experience hyperglycaemia regularly, speak to your doctor or diabetes care team.
Blood sugar readings between 180 mg/dL and 250 mg/dL are considered high blood glucose or hyperglycemia. A reading of 250 mg/dL or higher is dangerous. This severe high blood sugar requires emergency medical treatment. Two or more readings of 300 mg/dL or higher in sequence are very dangerous.
The average life expectancy of a type 2 diabetic patient is between 77 to 81 years. However, it is not uncommon for diabetics to live past the age of 85, should they be able to maintain good blood sugar levels and lengthen their lifespan.
Type 2 diabetes is a progressive condition, meaning it can get worse over time. In that case, your medications, diet, and exercise goals may need adjustments.
These are some signs that your type 2 diabetes is getting worse. Other signs like a tingling sensation, numbness in your hand or feet, high blood pressure, increase in appetite, fatigue, blurred vision, trouble seeing at night, and more shouldn't be overlooked.
When your body doesn't use insulin properly, it's called insulin resistance. Your beta cells increase the amount of insulin they produce to make up for the insulin resistance. Over time, the body works even harder to make more insulin and eventually it can't keep up.
If you have type 2 diabetes, cells don't respond normally to insulin; this is called insulin resistance. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually your pancreas can't keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Summary. While a type 2 diabetes diagnosis may seem like it comes out of nowhere, the changes in your body begin years before a diagnosis. Diabetes occurs in four stages: Insulin resistance, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes with vascular complications.
A skipped meal alters the balance between food intake and insulin production, and can cause your blood sugar levels to eventually drop. “For diabetic people dependent on insulin or blood sugar–lowering medication, skipping meals can be more dangerous because it can lead to low blood sugar,” says Pearson.
There is no denying it is hard to live with diabetes. The obstacles can seem overwhelming. After all, people with diabetes need to change their lifestyles with healthy eating, exercise and limited alcohol consumption to help keep blood sugar levels in check. It doesn't end there though.
Amongst those who are currently 65 years old, the average man can expect to live until 83 years old and the average woman to live until 85 years old. People with type 1 diabetes have traditionally lived shorter lives, with life expectancy having been quoted as being reduced by over 20 years.
Indeed, myocardial infarction is the leading cause of death among individuals with diabetes mellitus.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes can start quickly, in a matter of weeks. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly—over the course of several years—and can be so mild that you might not even notice them.
Diabetics clearly should avoid heavy drinking (i.e., more than 10 to 12 drinks per day), because it can cause ketoacidosis and hypertriglyceridemia. Moreover, heavy drinking in a fasting state can cause hypoglycemia and ultimately increase diabetics' risk of death from noncardiovascular causes.
Overall Well-Being. Living with a chronic disease, like type 2 diabetes, can understandably come with a range of emotions and can interfere with just about any aspect of daily life. As a result, many people with diabetes experience anxiety, depression, hopelessness, frustration, and burnout.
Some people don't notice any symptoms at all. Type 2 diabetes usually starts when you're an adult, though more and more children and teens are developing it. Because symptoms are hard to spot, it's important to know the risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Make sure to visit your doctor if you have any of them.
People often experience headaches, dizziness, sweating, shaking, and a feeling of anxiety. However, when a person experiences diabetic shock or severe hypoglycemia, they may lose consciousness, have trouble speaking, and experience double vision.
Go to the ER or call 911 right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis like: nausea and vomiting. abdominal pain. deep, rapid breathing.
Although there's no cure for type 2 diabetes, studies show it's possible for some people to reverse it. Through diet changes and weight loss, you may be able to reach and hold normal blood sugar levels without medication.