Diabetes Types: Type 2 Diabetes
The most common of the
diabetes types is
type 2 diabetes. This diabetes type was formally known as adult-onset diabetes. About 90 percent to 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2. This diabetes type is associated with:
- Older age
- Obesity
- Family history of diabetes
- Previous history of gestational diabetes
- Physical inactivity
- Ethnicity.
About 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight.
Type 2 diabetes is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents. However, nationally representative data on the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in youth are not available.
When this diabetes type is diagnosed, the
pancreas is usually producing enough insulin, but for unknown reasons, the body cannot use the insulin effectively, a condition called insulin resistance. After several years, insulin production decreases. The result is the same as for
type 1 diabetes -- glucose builds up in the blood and the body cannot make efficient use of its main source of fuel.
- Nausea or fatigue
- Frequent urination
- Unusual thirst
- Blurred vision
- Weight loss
- Frequent infections
- Slow healing of wounds or sores.
However, some people have no symptoms.
Diabetes Types: Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes develops only during pregnancy. Like type 2 diabetes, this diabetes type occurs more often in:
- African Americans
- American Indians
- Hispanic Americans
- Women with a family history of diabetes.
Women who have had gestational diabetes have a 20 percent to 50 percent chance of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years.
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