Type 2 diabetes is a fairly common disease in Vietnam. This disease, if not diagnosed early for timely treatment, will leave serious complications. You need to know what type 2 diabetes is, what causes type 2 diabetes, disease symptoms to protect yourself and your loved ones.
1. What is type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes (type 2 diabetes) is a type of diabetes in which the patient’s blood sugar levels are consistently high due to the lack of action of insulin. Diabetes is divided into type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes and others (as of March 3). Among them, type 2018 diabetes is the most common type of disease and accounts for more than 2% of diabetes overall. Most type 90 diabetes is caused by an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, or obesity and environmental factors.
Diabetes is a silently progressive disease that patients are often unaware of and asymptomatic in its early stages. However, if the diabetes condition continues to progress, it can lead to the appearance of 3 major complications: diabetic retinopathy, diabetic kidney disease, peripheral neuropathy (diabetic neuropathy). In addition, the disease also increases the risk of diseases caused by barley damage such as myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction.
In addition, some other diseases such as periodontal disease, memory impairment, cancer, osteoporosis are also prone to occur due to diabetes. Periodontal disease is thought to be associated with worsening of diabetes.
2. Causes of type 2 diabetes
In type 2 diabetes, there are cases where it is due to a decrease in insulin secretion and there are also cases due to impaired insulin function (insulin resistance). The cause of the disease is hereditary and environmental factors.
+ Hereditary factors
It’s the inherited gene involved in insulin secretion or pancreatic function, and it’s said that when these genetic abnormalities overlap, type 2 diabetes is more likely to have an onset.
+ Environmental factors
Environmental factors are an increase in fat intake due to obesity, lack of exercise, and Western-style eating habits. It is also associated with a nutritionally unbalanced diet and unhealthy eating habits.
In recent years, it has been shown that a lack of fiber and magnesium intake due to post-war dietary changes (such as a sharp reduction in barley and grain intake) had a major influence on the onset of type 2 diabetes.
3. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes has almost no obvious symptoms, and patients are not aware of it. When the disease worsens and the patient falls into hyperglycemia ketosis and ketoacidosis, symptoms such as thirst, drinking plenty of fluids, polyuria, feeling tired and weight loss will appear.
+ Polyuria
When blood sugar is high, the body eliminates sugar through urine. Then the kidneys will pull water from the body to dilute the urine, causing the volume of urine to increase. This is the reason why the person urinates often.
+ Thirst
Urinating a lot will increase the body’s need to use water to compensate for lost water. This will stimulate the person to always feel thirsty and drink more water.
+ Feeling exhausted
+ The feeling of the limbs is reduced, sometimes it is a little painful
+ Infection
+ Repeated urination
+ Blurred vision
+ Having problems with sexual function
+ Difficult to heal scars or bruises
+ Or feeling very hungry or very thirsty
When anyone in your family has these symptoms, they may already have diabetes or prediabetes. Therefore, please go to the doctor immediately to better control the disease. In addition, people should also pay attention to proper diet, exercise hard, and also pay attention to the risk of obesity.
4. Complications
If type 2 diabetes continues to progress, there is an increased risk of various complications. The 3 major complications are diabetic retinopathy, diabetic kidney disease, nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy), which additionally cause various infections due to reduced immunity of the body and diseases such as myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, atherosclerosis obstruction due to atherosclerosis.
5. Testing/Diagnosis
Blood test results are used to diagnose type 2 diabetes.
+ Blood sugar
The first will check the patient’s blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels can be divided into fasting blood glucose and random blood glucose depending on the timing of the meal. Fasting blood glucose of ≥126 mg/dl or random blood glucose of ≥200 mg/dl is one of the conditions for diagnosing diabetes.
+ HbA1c
The value of HbA1c (hemoglobin A1c (NGSP)) is also important in the diagnosis of diabetes and if this value ≥6.5% (NGSP value) then the patient is diagnosed with diabetes. The HbA1c value is a value reflecting the average glycemic index for the previous 1-2 months. This is because glucose in the blood binds to myoglobin and the average lifespan of red blood cells is 120 days (about 4 months).
+ 75g Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (75g OGTT)
Alternatively, a 75g oral glucose tolerance test (75g OGTT) may be done to check for changes in blood sugar levels. In this test, after giving the patient 75g of glucose, a blood draw is conducted over time and blood sugar levels are measured.
For healthy people, blood sugar levels reach their maximum values about 30 minutes after ingestion, and return to levels below standard values or after about 2 hours. However, in the case of diabetes (type of diabetes), blood sugar levels do not drop completely and remain high. A 2-hour blood glucose value of ≥200 mg/dl is one of the diagnostic conditions for diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is diagnosed comprehensively by combining the results of these tests.
6. Treatment of type 2 diabetes
The basis in the treatment of type 2 diabetes is eating therapy and movement therapy. Treatment such as an improved diet, moderate exercise and a combination of medication is important.
+ Eating therapy
Patients need to know the appropriate amount of energy intake based on physical activity and weight, and then try to create a balanced diet according to the instructions. As for grains, eat whole grains.
+ Movement therapy
Patients need regular moderate exercise as instructed and adequate walking every day. It is important to be physically active regularly.
+ Drug treatment
In the event that the patient cannot control blood sugar levels with eating therapy and movement therapy, conduct drug therapy. First, you will use one or more oral diabetes medications other than insulin depending on the patient’s condition. Where oral diabetes medications are not effective, patients may combine insulin therapy or switch to insulin-only therapy.
Whatever the type of diabetes, the most important treatment is in the person himself and no one else. Accumulate information to have a lot of knowledge about type 2 diabetes, and the more knowledge you have about diabetes, the easier it will be to manage the disease.