Top 4 Types of Diabetes You Must Know
Types of diabetes. Are you or your loved one who has diabetes? If your answer is yes, then you are at the right place. Diabetes is a condition when your body can not produce enough or any insulin. If it does, then it cannot correctly use that produced insulin.
In some cases, it cannot do a combination of either. When these conditions happen, your cells can not use sugar or glucose. So it causes high blood sugar levels. In this article, I will help you to know the Top 4 types of diabetes.
What causes diabetes?
1. Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which your pancreas cannot produce insulin, or it is not able to make enough insulin for your body. It is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly destroys insulin-producing cells. Now, this damage is permanent. Unfortunately, only 10 out of 100 patients fall for type 1 diabetes.
2. Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes starts with insulin resistance. The body with type 2 diabetes can’t use insulin efficiently because the pancreas produces more insulin until it cannot meet demand. As a result, insulin production decreases, which causes your blood sugar to increase. 90 out of 100 people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes worldwide.
Till now, there are no reasonable causes of type 2 diabetes. It may include:
- Genetics
- A more sedentary lifestyle
- Obesity or higher weight
There may also be some environmental reasons and other health factors
3. Gestational diabetes
During pregnancy, insulin-blocking hormones are produced, which causes the development of gestational diabetes. This type of diabetes develops only in women during pregnancy. It is mainly seen in people with a family history of diabetes or preexisting diabetes. About 50 percent of people with gestational diabetes develop type 2 diabetes.
4. Prediabetes
If you do not have diabetes, but your sugar level remains higher than average, you suffer from prediabetes. It is not that high sugar level to develop type 2 diabetes yet. But if you don’t change your lifestyle, there is a significant risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Eating healthy food, exercising daily, and losing excess weight can help to bring back your average sugar level.
Treatment of different types of diabetes
Treating type 1
People with type 1 diabetes must take insulin to live as their pancreas is damaged permanently. Different types of insulin are available in the market with different onsets, duration times, and peaks.
Insulin is injected just under the skin. Your doctor will guide you properly in injecting it into your body. Then, you can check your glucose level to maintain it.
People with type 1 diabetes should monitor their sugar level, and if it increases, they should seek their doctor at once. In addition, they should balance their diet and exercise regularly.
Treating type 2
Type 2 diabetes can be managed by changing lifestyles, like exercising regularly, eating proper meals, and losing excess weight. In addition, you should quit smoking if you want to be healthy and want to reverse your diabetes of this type.
You may also need to take insulin to manage it. In addition, it will help if you take medicines to manage other conditions relating to this, like high blood pressure.
Treating prediabetes
Prediabetes can be reversed by changing lifestyles, including regular exercise, eating proper meals, quitting smoking, and losing weight.
Treating gestational diabetes
Depending on the causes of gestational diabetes, you may be able to control this. It can be controlled by regular exercise and eating a proper meal. However, you may need to take insulin also.
Prevention
Type 1 diabetes has no prevention. You can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes if you:
- Avoid smoking
- High triglycerides
- low HDL cholesterol levels
- Exercise regularly
- Manage your weight
- Focus on a nutrient-dense diet
If you have prediabetes or gestational diabetes, these habits can delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, there’s no cure for type 1 diabetes. Instead, it requires managing your disease for your whole life. But with consistent monitoring and adherence to treatment, you may be able to avoid more severe complications of the disease.
If you work closely with your doctor and make healthy lifestyle choices, type 2 diabetes can often be successfully managed or even reversed. If you have gestational diabetes, it will likely resolve after the birth of your baby. However, you have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.