Can You Live Long with Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes mellitus. Unfortunately, it still has no cure. Once you’re diagnosed with it, you will have it for the rest of your life. But although it’s chronic and incurable condition, it’s manageable. The chance to live long with it is pretty good, too!

Type-2 diabetes develops gradually

You body needs hormone called insulin to help regulate blood sugar. This hormone is made by special cells called beta cells in the pancreas (an organ behind and below stomach). It is required to help move glucose (sugar) from bloodstream into cells of the body.

Diabetes occurs when something goes awry with your insulin. There are several types of diabetes; type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes (it only occurs in pregnancy, as the name suggests).

In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas doesn’t produce adequate insulin or the body cannot use insulin effectively (insulin resistance)! As a result, blood sugar level is more difficult to manage and easier to fluctuate abnormally.

Making the diagnosis of the disease as early as possible is important. Early diabetes is easier to manage. On the other hand advanced diabetes, especially when it has caused its complications, is more difficult to treat.

If you experience some of the following diabetes symptoms, see a doctor promptly:

1. Frequent urination (you pass urine more often than usual).
2. Increased thirst. See also the reasons of why diabetics can get so thirsty in this post!
3. Frequent infections and difficult (slow) to heal.
4. Changes in appetite, which may also be followed with weight changes especially unplanned weight loss.

Unfortunately, there is usually no early sign of the disease. People with type 2 may not have the symptoms for many years.

Type 1 diabetes is thought as a consequence of autoimmune disorder, a condition in which the body immune system attacks its own healthy cells or tissues. For this kind of diabetes, the pancreas is very poor in producing insulin. Even in some cases, it doesn’t produce insulin at all!

Both type 1 and type 2 can run in families. But type 2 is likely to be associated with lifestyle factors – in other words, it is preventable.

Obesity, especially increased waistline, is a common risk factor. In fact, people with type-2 diabetes are obese or overweight when they are diagnosed. Obesity is not only bad for your heart. Gaining more pounds of excess weight can make it harder for the body in using insulin correctly.

In less common cases, it affects thin people, too – but this is commonly found in the elderly. Yap, age is another risk factor (the risk increases with age). Lack of exercise (sedentary lifestyle) and poor diet also have an effect.

Can you live long with type-2 diabetes?

Many diabetics worry about the prognosis and their life expectancy after their diabetes diagnosis. Although death is not pleasant subject, it’s human nature to get to know about ‘how long we can expect to live’.

There are some statistics for diabetes life expectancy, but no one that can tell you exactly what will happen. Each case is unique and varies. Furthermore, there are a number of different factors that can affect this life expectancy.

But in essence, it’s important to manage type 2 diabetes otherwise some serious complications will occur which some can be life-threatening. In fact, diabetes is one of top ten causes of death in the U.S (2010) – according to the American Diabetes Association. And a report published in the Oct issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, it carries about 15 % increased risk of premature death.

Some studies suggest that the risk of death from diabetes is higher if you have the disease at young ages. The reason is not fully known. But in general, having it at a younger age will make you spend a longer period of your life living with it – this means there is a greater chance to have death due to this disease.

The good news, type-2 diabetes is manageable though it still has no cure. The chance to live long with it is pretty good, especially true if the disease has not become advanced.

Both type 1 and type 2 are serious and life-threatening. They can carry a serious impact on health. However in general, it is relatively easier to cope with type 2 – though it also takes a lot of time, care, and persistence to manage!

Nowadays, the improvement of knowledge in diabetes care is significantly helpful to improve the prognosis and outlook of the disease. Even without medicine, some diabetics are able to cope with the disease and live longer if they stay in their healthy weight, healthy-balanced diet, and become more active.

Appropriate lifestyle measures are part of the main treatment plan. Although sometimes medicine is required to help control the disease, lifestyle changes can play a key role to deal with it.

Again, it’s manageable and even many times you can manage it without medicine. If you’re diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, this is not the end of everything. There are still plenty of things you can do to improve the quality of your life, keep productive, and live longer. The following are the proven effective ways to improve your life expectancy.

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Blood sugar level monitoring

Since diabetes can make your blood sugar fluctuate easily, test your blood sugar regularly! You can do it at home with portable glucose meter, a practical device that measures the level of your blood sugar in a small drop of blood.

When to take the test? This can vary from person to person. But in general, you may need to take it twice a day or more if you take insulin. It’s usually recommended to do it before meals and if necessary before your bedtime.

But if you’re not taking insulin or only use lifestyle measures to control your type-2 diabetes, you may not need to take the test daily. See also the normal blood sugar targets for diabetics in here!

In addition, your doctor may suggest HbA1c test at least once a year. It is used to show how well your blood sugar is managed over the long term. This also can help analyze the effectiveness of the treatment or lifestyle measures you follow to cope with the disease.

Healthy-balanced diet

What you eat can affect your blood sugar, especially true for high-GI foods. GI or glycemic index is a variable used to determine how fast a food in affecting blood sugar. Low-GI foods are more recommended for diabetics since they are slowly digested (you can feel full longer), and the most important thing they have least effect on blood sugar.

On the other hand, high-GI foods can quickly affect your blood sugar level. They are quickly digested and absorbed in the body. Learn more about healthy-balanced diet, foods to eat and avoid for people with diabetes in this section!

Limit alcohol and avoid smoke!

Alcohol can cause too high or too low blood sugar. This is dependent on the amount you drink. It may also affect some diabetes treatment. For instance, sometimes it can affect your ability to carry out insulin treatment. So be careful when drinking, do it only in moderation or avoid it (especially true when your stomach is empty, never drink with empty stomach)!

Tobacco smoke is also bad for diabetics. It can increase the risk of diabetic complications such as stroke and heart disease. Even it is very bad for non-diabetics, too! So like a well-known adage, say ‘NO’ for smoking!

Keep active, regular exercise!

Diabetes is often associated with lack of energy and weakness, even though if you have eaten. This is because the body cannot effectively use glucose for energy.

However, this doesn’t mean you can forget your exercise! Instead, regular exercise is so essential to help control blood sugar in diabetics, improve your overall fitness, and decrease the risk of diabetic complications (especially such as cardiovascular diseases). For non-diabetics, exercise can help improve insulin sensitivity and lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.

But exercise when you have diabetes also poses unique challenges. This is particularly true if you take insulin to help control the disease. There may be particular instructions you need to follow to exercise safely.

For example, it’s usually recommended to test your blood sugar before exercise and make sure it’s at least 100 mg/dL if you take insulin. And like anyone else, take at least 2 hours and 30 minutes a week of moderately intense workouts such as fast walking, swimming, or bicycling. Talk to your doctor or care team for more advice!

Good relationship with others

Stress, depression, and anxiety are quite common in people with chronic condition. As mentioned before, diabetes requires consistency, persistence, and hard work to manage. Not all patients can cope with it successfully. Sometimes it may also carry relationship problem with others, making everything more difficult.

Many diabetics find that it’s helpful to talk with others in a similar position. Find a group of people with diabetes in your local area, and join with them! You can share what you think and your experience. Build a good relationship with others!

Don’t forget to make a regular contact with your care team, since type 2 diabetes is a long-term medical condition. Having a good relationship with your diabetes care team will enable you to keep monitoring the disease better.