Type 2 Diabetes - Should you be Concerned?

Article written by Daniel Healy and Gloria Cabrera.

July 12 – 18th is National Diabetes Week – a yearly campaign organised by Diabetes Australia to raise awareness of this often preventable condition. It is estimated that at least 60% of type 2 diabetes cases can be prevented.³ The effects of diabetes can be so devastating but up to half the cases of type 2 diabetes remain undiagnosed, so there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who live life not even knowing they have this condition.³

Did you know?

In Australia diabetes is the 6th leading cause of death and the fastest growing long term disease.³
Each day 275 Australians develop diabetes.³
Around 890 000 people are currently diagnosed with diabetes (these are only the cases that know they have diabetes).³
The total financial cost of type 2 diabetes in Australia is estimated at$10.3 billion per year.³

But what exactly is diabetes?

The best place to start is a humble packet of sugar you may put in your coffee or the toast you may have with it. The body quite likes sugar or carbohydrates in general. They are easy to convert into the best source of energy for the body, that is the simple sugar - glucose.¹ This could be compared to the conversion of American dollars into Australian dollars. Try to buy something in Australia with an American dollar and you’re not going to get too far. You’ve got to the convert the American money into Australian dollars. Then you can buy whatever you like! It’s like that with carbohydrates/sugar and glucose. Glucose is the Aus dollar of the human body.

Once the sugar has been converted into glucose the glucose needs to be taken to a place where it will be used for energy - our cells.⁵ To get glucose to these destinations however the body needs the assistance of the blood stream which acts like a taxi service shipping glucose molecules to cells where they are required. Now this is where it gets interesting. Glucose can’t just hop out of their little blood taxi’s, open the door of a cell and wonder in. After all cells are very exclusive locales. They need a key. These keys are made by the pancreas, an organ just below the stomach. When glucose enters the blood stream the pancreas get a signal to release some of these keys so they can unlock the cells and let glucose enter.² These keys are called insulin.

So what is all the fuss about diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes occurs as a result of a number of factors. It is known as a lifestyle disease (Type 1 diabetes differs) because it is more common in people who are overweight or obese, do insufficient exercise or continually have unhealthy diets.² Unlike type 1 diabetes which usually occurs in childhood and quite sudden, type 2 diabetes usually occurs in adults and over a longer time period of many years. However these days we are seeing more and more cases of young people developing type 2 diabetes as a result of being overweight or obese.² So what happens in the body when you have diabetes? Well over time two main things can happen;

Cells don’t respond to insulin properly (become insulin resistance), so the pancreas produce more and more insulin to get the same results.²
Eventually the pancreas starts to burn out and produce inadequate insulin for the body’s needs.²

When this happens, glucose isn’t transported to the cells as efficiently and begins to build up in the blood. It’s almost like cells have changed their locks. The insulin key that once opened the door for the glucose to enter no longer works. The cells are in lock down and become “insulin resistant.”⁴ Because there is nowhere for glucose to be stored the glucose stays in the blood. Eventually blood glucose levels will be elevated chronically. This is not an ideal situation and if left untreated will eventually result in diabetes and a number of serious health complications. Providing the individual visits a doctor they will eventually be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and treatment will begin.

But why is type 2 diabetes so devastating, how do you know if you have this condition and what can be done to reduce your risk? Read the next article in this 2 part series for more information.

References

Deakin University – Better Health Channel, February 2008. Carbohydrates and the Glycemic Index [Online]. Available at http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Carbohydrates_and_the_glycaemic_index?OpenDocument [Accessed 17th March 2009].
Deakin University – Better Health Channel, August 2007. Diabetes explained [Online]. Available at http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Diabetes_explained?open [Accessed 23rd March 2009].
Diabetes Australia, 2009. Diabetes in Australia [Online]. Available at https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/en/Understanding-Diabetes/Diabetes-in-Australia/ [Accessed 13th July 2009].
Dietitians Association of Australia, 21st January 2008.Smart Eating for You available at http://www.daa.asn.au/index.asp?PageID=2145834464 [Accessed 17th March 2009].
International Diabetes Institute, 2007. Understanding Diabetes [Online]. Available at http://www.diabetes.com.au/pdf/WhatisDiabetes_factsheet_IDI2007.pdf [Accessed 17th March 2009].

Last updated 13 July 2009