Type 2 Diabetes Life Expectancy
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a chronic ailment that, if left untreated, can result in serious health issues like high blood pressure, heart issues, and even death. When people are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, it is essential to understand Type 2 Diabetes Life Expectancy and what you can do to improve it.
The good news is that for most people with type 2 diabetes, life expectancy is not much affected. Involvement of the heart and kidneys, high or uncontrolled blood sugar levels and age at diagnosis all affect how long people with type 2 diabetes live.
Studies revealed that people with Type 2 diabetes life expectancy is greater than people with type 1 diabetes. People can live long, healthy lives with the proper care and control.
Type 2 Diabetes Risk Factors:
Type 2 Diabetes risk factors include any other coexisting morbidity or environmental factors like being obese, no physical activity, smoking, unhealthy diet, etc. Some primary type 2 diabetes risk factors include:
- Possess prediabetes: that indicates that although your blood sugar level is higher than normal, you do not yet have the disease.
- Uncontrolled elevated blood sugar levels harm numerous organs and can lead to problems.
- High blood pressure: 71% of people with diabetes have high blood pressure, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). High blood pressure makes kidney disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and other problems more likely.
- Lipid disorders: 65% of people with diabetes have high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), a kind of poor cholesterol that raises the risk of vascular damage. Diabetes frequently has high triglyceride and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or good, cholesterol levels, which increases the risk multifold times.
- Being overweight
- Are at least 45 years old.
- Have a brother, sister, or parent who has type 2 diabetes.
- Are inactive more than 3 times every week.
- Delivery of a baby weighing more than 9 pounds at birth (gestational diabetes).
- Heart Conditions or Diet that are high in fat and carbohydrates
- Native to Alaska, Hispanic or Latino, African American, or American Indian. Asian Americans and some Pacific Islanders are likewise more vulnerable.
Type 2 Diabetes Treatment:
Cells in muscle, fat, and the liver develop insulin resistance, which is the main cause of type 2 diabetes. These cells don’t absorb enough sugar because insulin doesn’t interact with them normally. A sufficient amount of insulin cannot be produced by the pancreas to control blood sugar levels. This is how you get Type 2 Diabetes.
Managing type 2 diabetes by combining medication and lifestyle treatments is the most preferable method to extend life expectancy.
Tracking a person’s blood sugar levels is part of type 2 diabetes treatment. Type 2 Diabetes treatment plan includes oral medications, injections of insulin, or drugs like metformin.
The most used treatment plan is some combination of metformin and dietary and exercise modifications. Unlike most type 2 oral medications, insulin is the most effective treatment for lowering glucose (including metformin).
Some other alternatives to Type 2 Diabetes medicines are SGLT-2 inhibitors,GLP-1 receptor agonists,DPP-4 inhibitors which help to reduce your blood sugar levels by lowering A1C levels, and can help prevent heart and renal disease and delay kidney disease progression.
Type 2 Diabetes Lifestyle Changes:
It takes effort to manage a chronic illness like type 2 diabetes daily. It is possible to live a better life by taking action to manage blood sugar levels and to get healthier overall. Long-term blood sugar control and good self-management practices are associated with improved quality of life.
People who are more likely to develop diabetes and those who have just received a type 2 diagnosis are frequently urged to make lifestyle adjustments to assist control their condition.
You can do the following things to raise your quality of life:
- Taking prescription drugs as directed
- Engaging yourself in more physical activities. Exercising for two and a half hours at a moderate intensity or one hour and fifteen minutes at a high intensity per week.
- Progressive weight loss to reach a healthy body mass index.
- Eating a balanced diet that contains more whole foods, such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
- Lowering the consumption of saturated fat.
- Getting Blood sugar monitored regularly.
- Taking care of additional conditions or issues like high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
- Quitting smoking
Type 2 Diabetes Life Expectancy:
Diabetes, chronic illness may lead to many comorbidities like cardiovascular disease and renal diseases if not managed timely. Diabetes if not within itself but with its associated comorbidity affects life expectancy.
It is a complicated, chronic condition that necessitates ongoing medical attention. The life expectancy of persons who have this illness is typically lower than that of those who do not.
There is no accurate data to predict Type 2 diabetes life expectancy. Your risk of having comorbidity related to diabetes that could shorten your lifetime decreases as you maintain proper management of the disease.
But, a 2020 study indicated that persons with type 2 diabetes have a greater life expectancy than people with type 1 diabetes.
FAQs:
What are some common Type 2 diabetes risk factors?
Risk factors, including genes and lifestyle, impact the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. Although risk variables, including age, ethnicity, and family history, cannot be changed, lifestyle risk factors related to food, exercise, and weight may vary.
How to prevent type 2 diabetes?
If you are prediabetic or have diabetes in your family, it is always advised to work on preventive care. One can prevent type 2 diabetes by following a healthy lifestyle, engaging in physical activities and exercise, eating a healthy nutritional diet, Losing weight (if overweight), making healthier choices, and monitoring blood sugar levels regularly.
How do you get type 2 diabetes?
Insulin resistance, a disease in which muscle, liver, and fat cells do not utilize insulin properly, is typically the first sign of type 2 diabetes. Your body consequently requires extra insulin to facilitate glucose uptake into cells.
To meet the increased demand, the pancreas initially produces more insulin, increasing your blood sugar and leading to type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.
Which is worse, type 1 or type 2 diabetes?
Diabetes type 1 is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the beta cells in your pancreas because it does not recognize them. It is more critical and worse than Type 2 diabetes.
In contrast, Type 2 diabetes is caused when the body cannot utilize insulin properly, which results in high blood sugar levels. A hormone called insulin aids in utilizing glucose (sugar) as fuel by the body’s cells.
In what ways Type 2 Diabetes Life Expectancy is affected?
Type 2 diabetes may cause the onset of many other fatal comorbidities like high blood pressure, renal diseases, vision alterations, and many more, which can affect life expectancy. But, it can be prevented with proper medications and treatment.