Overview
Medically reviewed by Dr. Rabeya Afroz Shomi
What is Type 2 Diabetes Treatment?
Combining lifestyle changes with the use of medication will help you to control blood sugar during Type 2 Diabetes. Healthier eating and more physical activities are recommended to be a large component of Type 2 diabetes treatment.
Oral Medications: Patients diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes are usually prescribed with an oral drug called Metformin and that is in addition to lifestyle changes. Metformin is chosen as it lowers health complications, helps control blood sugar and helps a little with weight loss.
Insulin: To keep blood sugar under control, the oral medications for Type 2 diabetes patients, sometimes, aren’t enough. In that case, The insulin can be added to your treatment. Insulin is, generally, used during the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes to control the blood sugar. Though the actual rate of insulin used among the patients can vary.
Is Type 2 diabetes completely curable?
Even after the decades of research, scientists are yet to find a permanent cure for a Type 2 Diabetes, but in lot of cases Type 2 Diabetes can be reversed. Though, a reversal is definitely not a cure. Unfortunately, not all Type 2 Diabetics can reverse their condition. A1c's can be lowered to a level deemed 'non-diabetic' with a persistent diet, exercise and lifestyle changes. It is noteworthy that the diabetes can simply return unless the lifestyle changes are maintained on a regular basis.
Is diabetes Type 2 dangerous?
In the case of Type 2 Diabetes, unlike Type 1 Diabetes, the body produces insulin but the body's cells are resistant to it. A balanced diet, weight loss, oral medications, and sometimes insulin can be helpful in treating Type 2 Diabetes. A dangerous and, sometimes, life threatening condition that occurs more frequently in Type 2 Diabetics is the diabetic coma. It happens when blood sugar climbs to very high levels.
A person with Type 1 Diabetes, especially who smokes and have high blood pressure, or is overweight, has a greater risk of developing heart disease and strokes. Gastroparesis is a situation in which the stomach takes too long to empty its contents. In Type 1 Diabetes patients, the vague nerve, which controls the movement of food through the digestive tract, becomes damaged because of regularly-high glucose levels. When this happens the muscles of the stomach and intestines no longer function normally and the movement of food slows or stops completely.
Can you live a long healthy life with type 2 diabetes?
Though, it is true that Type 2 Diabetes reduces life expectancy but regular screening, medication and better awareness can play a very important role in living a healthy life with Type 2 Diabetes. Various domestic and international studies have found that women aged 55 years and over with diabetes lost on average 6 to 10 years of life while men lost 5 to years.
What are the post-treatment guidelines?
Here goes some post-treatment guidelines for a Type 2 Diabetes patient. The following ways can help you to keep the blood sugar level closer to normal, which can further delay or prevent complications.
- Healthy eating : Even though there's no specific diabetes diet but it's important to center your diet on some high-fiber, low-fat foods such as Fruits, Vegetables, Whole grains, etc. in order to keep your Type 2 Diabetes under control, you also need to eat fewer animal products, refined carbohydrates and sweets.
- Regular exercise : People, diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, must involve some regular aerobic exercises in their daily lifestyle. You can also choose an activity you enjoy, such as walking, swimming and biking after, essentially, consulting your doctor.
- Possibly, diabetes medication or insulin therapy: Some of them who have Type 2 Diabetes need diabetes medications or insulin therapy. The medication which you have to take, depends on many factors, including your blood sugar level and any other health problems you may have.
- Blood sugar monitoring : You can keep your blood sugar level within the target range only through careful monitoring.
Is Type 2 diabetes genetic?
Researches have established that Type 2 Diabetes can be genetic or hereditary. But it is noteworthy that if any of your parents have Type 2 Diabetes, it doesn't mean that you will definitely develop it, however it means you have more chances to develop Type 2 Diabetes. The risk of Type 2 Diabetes advances if you have a brother, sister, or parent who has type 2 diabetes.
What are the Side effects of the treatment ?
You might experience some side effects during the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes, don't worry, some are temporary and should go away within a few weeks. It includes situations like stomach upset, gas, or diarrhea. Some other most common problems such as frequent urination, yeast infections in women, low blood pressure may occur. In such cases, consult your doctor if your side effects are severe or don’t go away in a few weeks.