Diabetes Community from HealthIndex UK

The Advice Centre for Diabetes has been provided by The British Diabetic Association.

Diabetes can occur at any age. It is a health problem which seems to be becoming more common. It is estimated that there are 1.4 million people in the UK today with diabetes and probably as many people again will have diabetes without knowing it. In general, knowledge of diabetes is poor. People with type 2, or non insulin dependent diabetes, often have symptoms for long periods of time before they visit their doctor.

• Treating diabetes
• How diabetes will affect your way of life
• Two types of diabetes
• What is type 1 or Insulin Dependent Diabetes?
• What is Type 2, or Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes?
• For answers to more of your questions, please visit the British Diabetic Association's web site

Treating diabetes

Although diabetes cannot yet be cured, it can be treated very successfully. If you have type 1, or insulin dependent diabetes, you will need to take injections of insulin for the rest of your life and eat a healthy diet which contains the right balance of foods. Insulin cannot be taken by mouth like a medicine because it is destroyed by the digestive juices in the stomach. Up to four injections each day may be needed.

If you have type 2 or non-insulin dependent diabetes, you will also need to eat a healthy, well balanced diet. This may not be enough for some people and you may also need tablets to help keep your blood glucose levels normal.

How diabetes will affect your way of life

You will probably need to make some changes to your way of life if you have diabetes. You may need to change your eating habits. You should certainly give up smoking as it is particularly dangerous if you have diabetes. As well as eating a healthy diet, regular exercise is good for you.

In the last 10-20 years, the care for people with diabetes has improved dramatically. One of the most important developments has been improved methods of screening which can help your doctor to pick up any problems early so that they can be treated. This is why having regular medical check-ups, at least one a year, is important.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK have diabetes and the vast majority live a normal, healthy life. Most people enjoy work and travel and live an active life, just as they did before. With good care of your diabetes, you can be one of them.

Two types of diabetes

There are two types of diabetes. Type 2 or non insulin dependent diabetes, is generally diagnosed in people over the age of 40. It is often linked with being overweight and is usually treated with diet or a combination of diet and tablets. Type 2 happens when the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin to completely control the levels of glucose in your blood - or when the insulin that it does produce can't be used properly by the body. This may be the case when the person is very overweight, which places a strain on the body and its organs.

Type 1 diabetes, or insulin dependent diabetes is usually diagnosed in people under 40. It is treated with insulin injections because the person has stopped producing their own insulin.

What is type 1 or Insulin Dependent Diabetes?

Diabetes can happen to anyone, regardless of age, race, sex or background and it now affects about 3% of the British population. But it is far from being just a 20th century malaise.

Insulin controls our blood glucose levels and is needed to convert glucose to energy. It is produced in the pancreas. Glucose is a simple sugar we absorb into our blood stream when we digest carbohydrate foods and it is a vital fuel for our brain and muscles.

As foods are digested, our blood glucose level rises. When we go without food, glucose is released from extra stores in the liver to sustain us. People who don't have diabetes produce insulin day and night to maintain constant blood glucose levels - neither too high, nor too low. But if you have type 1, or insulin dependent diabetes, your pancreas is unable to produce insulin, leaving blood glucose levels free to rise and fall in a dangerously uncontrolled way.

What is Type 2, or Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes?

Mention diabetes and most people think of young people having to inject themselves with insulin. In fact, the majority of people with diabetes in the UK have the same type of diabetes as you - non insulin dependent diabetes. You still need to take just as much care with this type of diabetes.

In case you're feeling a bit isolated - don't! Over one million others have type 2, or non insulin dependent diabetes, making it one of the most common conditions affecting older people in the UK today.