What Is The Difference Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes?
What is diabetes?
More than 34 million Americans have diabetes, a type of disease which hinders the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar. Diabetes requires careful management to prevent more serious health concerns, which include kidney and heart disease.
If you are suffering from diabetes, you are not alone. The American Diabetes Association suggests that there are more than seven million Americans with undiagnosed diabetes. Undiagnosed diabetes can often be attributed to the fact that there are different forms of diabetes, each with its own range of symptoms. We know this to be called Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
Our bodies eat and convert the food it takes into sugar, our main source of energy, which is then carried through our blood cells. After eating, blood sugar levels rise, and your pancreas releases insulin, the hormone which allows blood sugar to enter into your body’s cells and then converted into energy. Diabetes is a chronic illness in which your body either has difficulty making or using insulin, resulting in too much glucose in the blood, which can lead to serious medical conditions and possibly death.
What is type 1 diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes can develop at any age and is a type of autoimmune disorder that causes your body to stop producing insulin. Patients are often diagnosed with this condition as a child or young adult. In order to control it, you must regularly monitor your insulin levels and take insulin to stay alive.
About 5% of diabetics have Type 1.There are no preventative measures for Type 1 diabetes and no known cure.
Symptoms of Type1 diabetes include:
- Extreme hunger
- Mood changes
- Nausea and vomiting
- Rapid unexplained weight loss
- Increased thirst and urination
- Bad breath
- Gut pain
If you are exhibiting a combination of these symptoms you should reach out to your physician and seek medical attention immediately.
What is type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is the more common of the two types, with 84 million Americans considered pre-diabetic. The majority of people develop Type 2 diabetes in their adulthood, although it is possible to develop Type 2 in childhood or as a teenager.
Unlike Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes means that your body produces insulin, but that your cells cannot use it effectively. The body’s response is to then produce even more insulin, which causes glucose to build up in the blood and make insulin less effective over time.
The symptoms of Type 2 diabetes can be more subtle and often creep up on patients. Some examples of Type 2 symptoms are:
- Tingling or numbness in hands or feet
- More hunger than normal
- Mood swings
- Abnormal thirst
- Blurry vision
- Frequent urination
- Fatigue
Some risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes include:
- Family history of diabetes
- Obesity
- Poor exercise
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol levels
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Smoking
- Being age 45 or older
Type 2 diabetes can sometimes be managed through a healthy low-carb diet and exercise while others may need to take insulin and medication depending on severity.
Are you someone who has been diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes? Contact your pharmacist and physician to talk to you about the best plan to manage your condition and or how to take and measure your insulin levels.
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