What Is Type 2 Diabetes?
Nearly 17 million Americans are affected by Type II or adult-onset diabetes
and this condition is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.
The bad news is that this number is projected
to continue increasing as obesity continues to increase; the good news is that
significant improvement in blood sugar control can be made without medication
if dietary and exercise recommendations are followed.
Type II diabetes has a different cause than
Type I: patients with type 2 diabetes do not respond properly to insulin, the
hormone that normally allows the body to convert blood sugar into energy or
store it in cells to be used later. Eventually, people with type 2 diabetes
cannot make enough insulin to meet the body's needs. As a result, blood sugar
increases, but the body is unable to use it properly, and the body's cells are
actually starving for energy. Over the long term, high blood sugar can lead
to medical complications such as heart disease, kidney failure, nerve damage,
infections, and blindness.
Family history is the number-one risk factor
for type 2 diabetes and obesity is a strong second. Even individuals at
high risk can lower their chances of developing it by maintaining a healthy
body weight
Although people with diabetes can prevent or delay complications by keeping
blood glucose levels close to normal, preventing or delaying the development
of type 2 diabetes in the first place is even better. The results of a major
federally funded study, the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), show how to do
so. This study of 3,234 people at high risk for diabetes showed that moderate
diet and exercise resulting in a 5- to 7-percent weight loss can delay and possibly
prevent type 2 diabetes. The results showed that people in the lifestyle modification
group reduced their risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 58 percent. Average weight
loss in the first year of the study was 15 pounds. Lifestyle modification was
even more effective in those 60 and older. They reduced their risk by 71 percent.
People receiving the drug metformin reduced their risk by 31 percent.
The American Diabetic Association (ADA) has issued nutrition recommendations
which include strategies to prevent Type II diabetes and to how to deal with
it once a diagnosis has been made. The ADA recommends that weight management
through a low-fat diet and exercise can improve a person's response to insulin.
They also recommend reducing calories, which can help people with diabetes maintain
more stable blood glucose; restricting fat, which has been shown to lead to
longer-term weight loss; consuming no more than 20% of calories from protein;
and consuming less than 10 percent of total calories from saturated fat.
Created: 10/27/2003 - Donnica Moore, M.D.
