What is Type 2 Diabetes?
Also know as Maturity onset, Non Insulin Dependant Diabetes, NIDDM,
Type 2 is normally diagnosed over the age of 40, however more younger people are being diagnosed. With type 2 diabetes, the illness and symptoms tend to develop gradually over weeks or months. This is because in type 2 diabetes you still make insulin (unlike type 1 diabetes). However, you develop diabetes because:
- you do not make enough insulin for your body’s needs, OR
- the cells in your body do not use insulin properly. This is called ‘insulin resistance’. The cells in your body become resistant to normal levels of insulin. This means that you need more insulin than you normally make to keep the blood glucose level down, OR
- a combination of the above two reasons.
Type 2 diabetes is much more common than type 1 diabetes, first course of treatment is normally diet and exercise which may progress to oral medication and possibly insulin.