Diabetes Mellitus 2

Diabetes Mellitus 2- The Invisible Disease

Diabetes mellitus 2 is a serious condition, although it often thought of as less serious as diabetes mellitus type l and therefore not as threatening. Not true. Diabetes mellitus 2 ( often called type 2 diabetes) is a serious health problem,  even though the person with the disease feels perfectly fit.

Diabetes mellitus 2 is managed by diet, weight control and blood sugar tracking.

In fact, diabetes mellitus 2 is often discovered completely by accident while tests are being run for other health problems. But it’s important to remember that while this health problem may not immediately get your attention, it is still silently going about its job of damaging the body. And serious exercise and eating changes are necessary if you’re diagnosed with diabetes mellitus 2.

It’s also important to know that only a few years ago, patients lived about ten years after discovering they had diabetes mellitus 2.  But now with modern medications and attention to healthy eating, patients can expect to not only survive for a normal lifetime, but thrive with diabetes as well.

What’s the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes ?

Diabetes type l is the condition that most people think of when they talk about “diabetes.”  Unlike type 1, diabetes mellitus 2 patients don’t need to take insulin injections to manage the disease. Injections are needed for type 1 for a couple of reasons:

First, the insulin is required because the pancreas of type 1 diabetes patients is not producing insulin in the body. The body’s immune system has decided the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin are the enemy, and has set out to destroy or weaken them to the point they create little or no insulin. Therefore the insulin must be added to the body in order for it to turn fuel into energy.

Second, insulin can’t be taken by mouth because it is destroyed in the digestive process. Therefore it must be given directly by injection.

However, in type 2, insulin is still made by the pancreas. Often in as large amounts as the body needs. The problem in type 2 diabetes is the patient’s  body has become resistant to the insulin in the blood, and that’s a problem too.

Insulin resistance in diabetes mellitus 2 patients

Why is insulin so important? It’s part of a complex chemical process that gets energy to our body cells. Our body uses a sugar called glucose. When you eat, much of that food is turned into glucose. But now, that blood sugar has to get into the cells of the muscles of your body so you can run, walk and function at your best.
\
So what does that have to do with insulin?

When blood flows to your muscles with insulin, the insulin causes the muscles to produce transporters which carry the glucose across the walls of muscle cells into the cells. Without insulin, the cells don’t get the energy they need.

In diabetes mellitus 2 the insulin is present in the blood but isn’t functioning very well. For some still unknown reason, there is resistance to the insulin. That’s the core problem. Insulin resistance. The body resists the work of the insulin to move the blood sugar into the cell.

And that means the glucose in the blood is not all transported into the muscle cells and it just keeps collecting in the bloodstream. That produces high sugar in the blood. And that produces all sorts of additional problems.

The bottom line is that the blood sugar level rises higher than it should, and that’s when you are diagnosed with diabetes mellitus 2.

Diabetes mellitus 2 and diabetes mellitus 1 may need different treatment and causes, but it’s important to recognize that both are problems of deficiency. In type 1, there is not enough insulin, so it has to be added. But in diabetes mellitus 2, the problem of deficiency is somewhat different.

In dabetes mellitus 2 the insulin in present, but resistance means there is a deficiency in getting the glucose into the muscle cells. Again, the final result is the blood glucose build up.

In most cases, diabetes mellitus 2 is a condition that a patient has had for months or more likely years before it was detected. Almost any treatment and diet change to reduce or even out blood sugar will improve the condition of diabetes mellitus 2.

Incoming search terms:

• diabetes mellitus 2
• diabetesmellitusanswers com
• sugar inspite of insulin