Type 2 diabetes: Symptoms, Diagnosis, & Treatment

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by the body's resistance to insulin and increased blood sugar levels, which produces classic symptoms such as dry mouth sensation, increased urination, increased thirst, and even, weight loss without apparent cause.

Unlike type 1 diabetes, people are not born with type 2 diabetes, but the disease develops over the years due to unhealthy lifestyle habits, especially the excessive consumption of carbohydrates in food and style of sedentary life.

Depending on the degree of alteration in sugar levels, treatment may be based on making some changes in diet and lifestyle, or, including medications, such as oral antidiabetics or insulin, which should always be prescribed by a doctor. In most cases where it is not necessary to use medication, diabetes can have a complete cure.


Main Symptoms

If you think you may have type 2 diabetes, select the symptoms you currently have and discover the risk of having this disease:

• Exaggerated desire to drink water
• Mouth constantly dry
• Frequent urination
• Frequent tiredness
• Blurred or cloudy vision
• Wounds that take time to heal
• Tingling sensation in the hands or feet
• Frequent infections such as candidiasis or urinary infections

Sometimes, these symptoms can be difficult to identify, so one of the best ways to know about the possibility of having diabetes is to have blood tests on an ongoing basis, in order to evaluate blood sugar levels, especially fasting

What are the Tests That Confirm Type 2 Diabetes

The diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus is made through a blood or urine test, which evaluates the amount of glucose in the body. This test is usually done on an empty stomach and must be done on 2 different days, in order to compare the results.

The reference values of glucose in aid are up to 110 mg / dL in blood. When the person has fasting glucose values between 110 and 125 mg / dL, he is diagnosed as prediabetes and when he has fasting glucose greater than 126 mg / dL he can have diabetes. Know the tests that diagnose diabetes and reference values.

How the Treatment is Performed

The first form of treatment of type 2 diabetes is the adoption of a balanced diet with less sugar and other forms of carbohydrates. In addition, it is also important to perform physical activity at least 3 times a week.

After these recommendations, in case the levels are not normalized, the doctor can advise the use of oral antidiabetics, which are tablets that help control blood sugar levels.

The use of insulin is the last treatment option and, generally, people who start using it do not get the cure of the disease, needing to maintain a daily verification of sugar levels and the corresponding insulin administration, for the rest of their lives.

Possible Consequences of Type 2 Diabetes

When diabetes treatment is not started on time, the disease can cause various complications in the body, related to the accumulation of sugar in various types of tissues. Some of the most common include:

• Severe vision impairments that can lead to blindness;
• Bad wound healing that can lead to necrosis and limb amputation;
• Dysfunctions in the central nervous system;
• Cardiac complications and coma.

These complications can also occur when people are doing the treatment but do not follow the medical guidelines correctly. See more diet advice for diabetics.