November is National Diabetes Month. Diabetes mellitus, as it’s officially known, actually manifests itself in a few ways. One of these manners is known as Type 2 Diabetes.
Of the estimated 23.6 million people in the US (7.8%) who have been diagnosed with diabetes, approximately 17.9 million (90%) are cases of type 2 diabetes. What was once referred to as ‘adult onset diabetes,’ is now being increasingly observed in children. Much of this has been attributed to rising obesity rates of children and sedentary lifestyles.
Symptoms include: chronic fatigue, weakness and malaise, excessive urination and thirst, blurred vision, unexplainable weight loss and lethargy.
Three factors which significantly raise the risk of getting type 2 diabetes, or making it worse, are obesity, hypertension, or elevated cholesterol. This means that having a diet that includes a lot of fatty and sugary foods, or having a very sedentary lifestyle can heighten your risk of acquiring this particular type of diabetes. In fact, over half of type 2 patients are obese when they are diagnosed.
Type 2 differs from type 1 in that there is a problem with the body cells response to insulin, rather than the production of insulin. Initially, type 2 diabetes can be treated by changing the patient’s diet and exercise habits. Diet is controlled to limit glucose intake, which is not necessarily related to sugar.
If you are concerned you might have diabetes mellitus, contact your personal health care practitioner immediately.  If you have been diagnosed, check out the diabetes section in our catalog for products that can help you maintain your diabetes.