There are a few different types of diabetes, but type 2 is both the most common and one of the leading causes of death in America, with 98 million dealing with prediabetes and 38 million who have the illness.
Of all those living with diabetes, over 90% have type 2, and millions are struggling completely undiagnosed, which makes treating the condition harder and raises your risk of complications.
If you live in the Beverly Hills, California, area, and you’re trying to manage the effects of diabetes, Dr. Shawn Veiseh and his dedicated medical staff can help.
Type 2 diabetes is easily prevented and easy enough to manage if you stay on top of it, but can it be reversed? Let’s try to answer this question by examining the basics of the illness, its symptoms and complications, and explore what reversing it means and if it can happen.
Diabetes affects the amount of blood sugar, or blood glucose, in your body. You need sugar to fuel your cells, but only a controlled amount to keep things functioning properly. To moderate the dosage in your bloodstream, your pancreas creates a hormone known as insulin to take the blood glucose you need and eliminate what you don’t.
Developing diabetes results from your body being unable to regulate blood sugar, either from building insulin resistance or not producing enough to combat the excess in your system (known as hyperglycemia).
While genetics can play a role in your chances of getting diabetes, other common factors are physical inactivity, chronic stress, excess body fat, hormonal disorders, and a diet high in processed foods and sugar.
This condition often takes years to develop and doesn’t always show signs, but when it does, you’ll experience symptoms like fatigue, increased hunger and thirst, frequent urination, blurry vision, tingling, numbness, or pain in your hands or feet.
Over time, if your condition is left untreated, complications can affect different parts of your body, leading to eye problems (diabetic retinopathy), peripheral neuropathy, kidney problems (nephropathy), cardiovascular disease, and gum disease.
Technically, type 2 diabetes is an incurable, chronic condition, but with a focus on a better diet, management of your physical health, and proper medication, your type 2 diabetes can go into remission.
Remission means controlling your insulin and blood sugar enough so that all your other symptoms and complications are reduced to the point of not doing significant damage to your body.
Embracing a low-calorie diet, cutting down on processed foods and sugars, getting more exercise, and receiving insulin treatments as needed will help your body process blood sugar properly to keep you healthier and at a much lower risk of symptoms and other illnesses that diabetes can bring on.
Diabetes isn’t curable, but it’s very treatable, and we can help you get yours under control. Make an appointment with Dr. Veiseh and our team today by calling our office or scheduling a visit online to find out how to control your type 2 diabetes.
