Keith Souter - Your Guide to Understanding and Dealing with Type 2 Diabetes: What You Need to Know

YOUR GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING AND DEALING WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES

Copyright Keith Souter, 2015

Illustrations Keith Souter

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means, nor transmitted, nor translated into a machine language, without the written permission of the publishers.

Keith Souter has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this book is accurate and current at the time of publication. The author and the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any misuse or misunderstanding of any information contained herein, or any loss, damage or injury, be it health, financial or otherwise, suffered by any individual or group acting upon or relying on information contained herein. None of the opinions or suggestions in this book are intended to replace medical opinion. If you have concerns about your health, please seek professional advice.

In memory of my mother, Mollie Anne McDonald Souter,
who lived well with her Type 2 diabetes for many years

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Isabel Atherton, my wonderful agent at Creative Authors for helping to bring another book in this series to fruition. Thanks also to Claire Plimmer at Summersdale who commissioned this and the previous titles, and to Anna Martin who has skilfully guided it through the various stages towards publication. Thanks to Ellie Clarke for doing the initial edit to knock the rough edges off the manuscript and to Lyn Coutts my copy-editor for smoothing it still further. I am grateful for the many helpful suggestions that have been made at every stage, which have helped to make it a more readable and accessible book.

It has been another enjoyable experience working with Summersdale Publishers.

Keith Souter

Contents

Introduction

If you have recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, you may be thinking that you have been given bad news. You may think life as you have enjoyed it is at an end and that you are faced with a future of deterioration. This does not have to be the case at all. Type 2 diabetes is a condition to take seriously, but the diagnosis gives you the opportunity to get it under control and to reduce your risk of developing complications. Indeed, control it well and you will probably feel better than you have done for some time.

You may not, in fact, have been diagnosed with the condition, but been told that you have pre-diabetes. This means that you are at risk of developing it, but as yet you have not done so. The very good news is that you can reverse that risk and prevent yourself from developing Type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes is a condition that is increasing in incidence every year around the globe. It is linked with rising obesity levels, greater inactivity and the consumption of a diet that frankly predisposes people to develop diabetes.

As we shall see in Chapter 1 ( An overview of diabetes ) diabetes mellitus is a lifelong disorder of carbohydrate metabolism that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the body does not respond to its own insulin. While I am going to consider the different types, the overall emphasis of the book is on understanding and dealing with Type 2 diabetes.

The book falls naturally into two parts. Part 1 is about understanding Type 2 diabetes, beginning with some background information about the way the bodys metabolism works and how the body handles glucose. Then we shall look at how things can go wrong and what sort of complications can occur. This is important, because Type 2 diabetes can affect many of the bodys systems, particularly the circulation and heart, the eyes, the kidneys and the nervous system. You need to know about all of these in order to reduce your risk of developing such complications.

Part 2 will look at how diabetes is diagnosed and how you and your doctor can keep it under control. We will look at the tests and investigations you should have, and we will look at the way that diet, exercise and possibly drugs can maximise your health.

The diagnosis is not bad news; it is a warning that things are not working as they should, and by altering lifestyle and developing a positive attitude towards the condition and your future, you can live well with your Type 2 diabetes.

Part One

UNDERSTANDING
TYPE 2 DIABETES

Type 2 diabetes does not always produce the common symptoms, such as increased thirst. This is very important, because many people with Type 2 diabetes have no symptoms at all, or are not particularly bothered by them for years. They may not know that they have diabetes until they have a blood-glucose test done on routine examination at their doctors surgery. Because of this tendency for the condition to smoulder on unrecognised, if you believe that you are at risk of developing it, you should have a blood test.

Chapter 1

An overview of diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a lifelong disorder of carbohydrate metabolism that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the tissues do not respond to the bodys own insulin.

The characteristic feature of diabetes in an undiagnosed or untreated form is excess thirst and increased tendency to pass urine. This is the result of raised blood-glucose levels. Over time this can lead to serious damage to various body systems.

Common symptoms of diabetes

• Increased thirst
• Increased frequency of urination, especially at night
• Excessive tiredness
• Weight loss and loss of muscle bulk
• Itching around the genitals or frequent episodes of thrush
• Wounds or cuts are slow to heal
• Blurred vision, as a result of the lens of the eyes becoming dry

Types of diabetes

There are two main types of diabetes, which make up the vast majority of cases. They share the name diabetes mellitus, but each type has its own features, causes and indicated treatments.

Both types affect the blood-glucose levels and both produce complications unless they are adequately treated. These complications can significantly impair health and even lead to early death.

Type 1 diabetes

This is characterised by lack of insulin production. It used to be called juvenile onset diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes. This was because it tended to occur in children and young adults. It requires treatment with insulin.

It is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. There is therefore a deficiency of insulin and the individual will have to take insulin injections for the rest of his or her life. It is not possible at this stage in time to prevent Type 1 diabetes from developing. Type 1 diabetes accounts for about ten per cent of all diabetes cases worldwide.