In type 2 diabetes, your pancreas is unable to produce as much insulin as your body requires. Cells in your body develop a resistance to insulin's effects.

Although type 2 diabetes is the most prevalent variety, you might be shocked by what else you don't know. Recent advancements in type 2 diabetes diagnosis, treatment, and education have made it possible for better control and prevention. 

Here are 4 aspects regarding type 2 diabetes that everyone needs to be aware of:

A healthy lifestyle can help control and prevent it.


Type 2 diabetes

Eating well and exercising frequently are two of the most crucial things you can do to control type 2 diabetes and live a full life.

The following are some fundamental steps you may take to control or avoid type 2 diabetes:

  • Refrain from using cigarettes, which raises your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
  • Cut back on saturated fats and sugary beverages in your diet. Substitute more fruits and vegetables for processed meals.
  • Keep an appropriate weight.

It's a chronic disease without a cure


Type 2 diabetes

When your body has trouble controlling its blood sugar levels, you get diabetes. It results from the body's incapacity to produce or utilize insulin. Either your body doesn't make any or enough insulin, or your body's cells are resistant and can't efficiently utilize the insulin it produces.

There is currently no cure, thus maintaining blood sugar levels within the desired range requires careful control and occasionally medication.

It may go undetected for many years

Many cases of type 2 diabetes go misdiagnosed owing to a lack of symptoms or because individuals fail to recognize them as diabetes-related.

Type 2 diabetes can go undiscovered for up to 10 years, and around half of persons have problems by the time they are identified. Early detection and treatment are critical in lowering the chance of developing life-changing consequences such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and amputation.

Anyone over the age of 45 should be screened for diabetes, especially if they are overweight. If you're overweight and under 45, you should still be tested because being overweight is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases even offers a free diabetes risk test to determine whether you are at risk for type 2 diabetes.

It's increasing, particularly among young adults

Type 2 diabetes

90% to 95% of all instances of diabetes that have been diagnosed are type 2; type 1 diabetes accounts for about 5% to 10% of occurrences.

What's more alarming is that type 2 diabetes, which was formerly solely diagnosed in adults, is now increasingly more frequently seen in young individuals. This is probably because type 2 diabetes is associated with obesity and a higher body mass index (BMI), both of which are problems that are increasingly prevalent among young people today.