More Information About Type 2 Diabetes
What is type 2 diabetes?
You know that when you have type 2 diabetes you have too much sugar in
your blood. Some of this sugar comes from the food you eat and some
from storage in the liver. Insulin is needed to move the sugar form
the bloodstream into the cells.
There is more than one type of diabetes. You have type 2. To
understand more about type 2 diabetes you need to know more about how your
body works.
Where does insulin come from?
Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas. The pancreas is just
behind your stomach.
The pancreas makes insulin and releases it into the blood when the blood
sugar starts to rise. This is usually after eating. In people
without diabetes, the pancreas makes just the right amount of insulin.
The insulin helps move the sugar out of the blood into the cells to be used
as energy. Even though the blood sugar will rise some after eating, it
stays within a tight range. The blood sugar will go back down within 2
hours after eating.
How does insulin work to move sugar into the cells?
Each cell has places on the outside surface called
insulin receptor sites. When insulin attaches to
these receptors it causes passageways to open that allow sugar to
enter the cell.
So it takes both the insulin and the receptor sites to open the
passageway. If either is missing the sugar can not pass from
the blood into the cell..
Why doesn't the insulin the body makes work to lower the blood
sugar in type 2 diabetes?
First, the pancreas is not able to make enough insulin. The
pancreas does make some insulin when you eat, but not enough to keep
your blood sugar in normal range. Too much sugar stays in the
bloodstream and can not get into the cells.
Second, the insulin goes into the blood too slowly to work well.
The insulin is not released from the pancreas fast enough to bring
the sugar level back to normal within 2 hours after you eat.
In type 2 diabetes, the body will also develop a resistance to
the insulin that is there. The cells lose some of the insulin
receptor sites. When there aren't enough receptor sites , it
does not matter how much insulin is there. The sugar can not
get into the cells because there aren't enough open passageways.
This is called insulin resistance.
Also your liver stores sugar for times when you don't eat.
The liver will release this sugar between meals and overnight.
If the cells in the liver are resistant to insulin, it will release
too much sugar. This is one reason your blood sugar is high
when you first wake up.
As people loose weight and increase activity, their cells become
more sensitive to insulin. Loosing even small amounts of
weight can improve your blood sugar.
Why did I get type 2 diabetes?
No one knows why people get type 2 diabetes. We do know you
did not catch it from someone else, and it is not from eating too
much sugar. There are some known risk factors for developing
diabetes. Some of there risks can change and some can not.
- Heredity; Family History. Type 2 diabetes does run in
families. If either of your parents have diabetes, there is a
10 - 15% chance you will get it too.
- Age. As you get older your chance of getting diabetes goes
up.
- Overweight. Excess weight makes it harder for insulin to
work.
- Stress can bring out diabetes because it causes the blood
sugar to go up.
What are other kinds of diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is the most common. Over 90% of people with
diabetes have type 2.
Type 1 diabetes is when people have no insulin from their own
pancreas. These people must take insulin shots to live.
How is type 2 diabetes treated?
Type 2 diabetes is treated with balancing the food you eat and
activity you do. It may also require medications. Some
medications help the pancreas make more insulin, others make the
cells more sensitive to the insulin, and some will cause the liver
to release less sugar.