Non-insulin dependent diabetes
Name(s):
Type II diabetes
Type 2 diabetes
Mature-onset diabetes
Epidemic of preventable diabetes
Late-onset diabetes
Adult diabetes
Background
The two most common forms of diabetes are divided into types 1 and 2. Type 1, or "childhood" diabetes, is where the pancreas completely stops manufacturing insulin. Type 2 diabetes has long been known as an "adult" disease because it develops gradually, usually beginning in middle age, as the body produces less insulin and/or becomes less sensitive to insulin (called insulin resistance). Instead of the muscles and fat cells taking up sugar from the blood under the influence of insulin, they ignore the orders and the liver then releases too much glucose. The result is a dangerous buildup of blood sugar, which somehow damages other body tissues. When a person has insulin resistance, leading to elevated blood sugar levels, but not yet to the point of diabetes, he or she is said to be prediabetic. Insulin resistance develops with obesity, which is now considered a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
The major complications with Type 2 diabetes can be put into two groups: microvascular and macrovascular, or small-vessel complications and large-vessel complications. The microvascular complications include: diabetic retinopathy, which is diabetic eye disease; diabetes nephropathy, which is diabetic kidney disease; and also diabetes neuropathy, the nerve damage typical of type 2 diabetes. Macrovascular complications include: heart disease and stroke and other significant circulatory problems, such as peripheral vascular disease, meaning low circulation to the limbs. The micro vascular complications is significantly related to the high blood sugar. The large-vessel diseases have a variety of causes, including high blood sugar but they are more related to characteristics of the metabolic syndrome, such as high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low HDL.
Incidence
Type II diabetes is considered to be disease of the affluent, resulting from an over-indulgent lifestyle. It appears to be closely associated with obesity, lack of physical exercise and a higher caloric intake which tends to develop when societies adopt a "western lifestyle", that is when they move from a subsistence economy dependent upon agriculture to a cash economy in which many people have a sedentary occupation and purchase all their food and needs in shops. According to the WHO, diabetes is now reaching epidemic proportions. Uncontrolled diabetes increases the risk of heart disease, kidney disorders, nerve damage, blindness, amputations and death.
Broader
Aggravates
Aggravated by
Web page(s)
Value(s)
Type
(E) Emanations of other problems