The difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a fairly common disease. But people who do not have relatives of diabetics or who do not suffer from a sugar illness themselves rarely know about different types of the disease. Because they don’t need it. Questions, what is diabetes and how do its types differ, arise when a person is directly confronted with the disease.

With any type, you need to take medication. It doesn’t matter whether it is insulin or pills, it is they who primarily lower blood sugar levels. Alternative methods of treatment, such as pancreas transplantation, are not widespread, so taking medications is vital for diabetics. In addition, physical therapy is recommended in both cases – it can also lower glucose levels.

General and diet. Strict or not, but diet No. 9 does not divide patients into types. Both there and there are important counts of carbohydrates eaten.

And, of course, self-measurement of glucose using a glucometer. Self-monitoring is important for any diabetes because high sugar (hyperglycemia) destroys the internal organs. Timely identification of elevated levels avoids this. Low sugar is also dangerous (hypoglycemia). It is with the help of the device that a diabetic detects abnormalities and can himself adjust the nutrition or dose of drugs.

If a person has close relatives with diabetes, the risk of developing a “sugar” disease of any type is increased by 50%. The common thing is that both types are incurable. All therapy is aimed at maintaining the quality of life of people, but the complete elimination of diabetes is not yet possible.

Diabetes

In a healthy person, glucose (sugar), which is ingested with food, enters various organs through the blood using the hormone insulin. Insulin is produced in the pancreas. If the pancreas stops producing insulin altogether or produces it in very small quantities, diabetes mellitus occurs. The main symptoms are thirst and frequent urination. A person goes to the hospital, where the patient is given an accurate diagnosis and treatment is prescribed. The necessary therapy depends on the type of disease.

Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is also called insulin-dependent. In this case, the pancreas completely ceases to produce insulin. The reasons for this are not always clear. If a person falls ill with precisely this type, he will have to administer insulin on his own with a syringe until the end of his life.

That is, the patient becomes dependent on insulin and, if you stop injecting it, soon the person will die. The hormone is injected subcutaneously. This type of diabetes has another name – “the disease of the young,” but this does not mean that you cannot get sick with type 1 in old age.

With type 1 diabetes, the treatment is:

1. Daily injections of insulin. Most often, 2 types of insulin are prescribed: long-acting and short-acting. The first pricks 1, less than 2 times a day, the second before the main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner). The desired dosage of the drug is prescribed by the doctor endocrinologist.
2. Self-monitoring of blood sugar. This is done using a special device – a glucometer. The device is capable of measuring blood glucose in a matter of seconds.
3. Diet. Diabetics are advised to avoid foods high in carbohydrates. After all, it is carbohydrates that increase sugar levels. For patients with diabetes there is a special menu that takes into account the amount of food eaten – this is table (diet) No. 9.

Type 2 diabetes

This is non-insulin-dependent diabetes or the disease of the “old people.” It is impossible to get sick at the age of 20, but after 50 it is quite real. With this type of “sugar disease”, the body produces insulin itself, but the amount that the pancreas produces is not enough for normal functioning or sensitivity to the hormone decreases.

Here the therapy is:

1. Diet.
2. Taking sugar-lowering drugs. Insulin is also possible, but it is rarely prescribed. Patients drink sugar-lowering pills.
3. Sugar control. In this case, it is also important.

How are the species different?

Despite the similarities, doctors do not just divide the disease into types.

Differences of one from another in the following:

1. The rate of development of the disease.
2. The reasons for the occurrence.
3. Medication.
4. The age of the patient.
5. Food.

Symptoms of a newly diagnosed disease are similar, but the rate of development of types of diabetes is different. Type 2 sometimes develops over the years, while type 1 can occur in a few months or even weeks.

According to doctors, the causes of insulin-dependent diabetes are: stress, surgery, infections, pregnancy (in women), alcoholism, heredity or taking medications. The causes of non-insulin-dependent diabetes are most often overweight, age, and a sedentary lifestyle.

The difference in drugs has already been mentioned: insulin or pills. For many type 2 diabetics, this is a decisive factor. It is easier to drink the medicine than inject insulin 4 (minimum) times a day.

“Age” of type 1 – infancy, youth, early adulthood, very rarely old age. “Age” 2– maturity and old age.

Food with type 2 plays a greater role than with type 1. Since often the cause of non-insulin-dependent diabetes is obesity, the diet is aimed at reducing the weight of a sick person. It is recommended to eat often, but in small portions. Everything sweet and high in carbohydrates is excluded.

With such a serious ailment as diabetes, it is important to strictly follow the doctor’s prescription. Many diabetics, unfortunately, do not heed the advice and begin to sound the alarm only after receiving complications of the disease like blindness, amputation of limbs or organ failure. After all, all this can be avoided by adhering to 4 simple but important rules: diet, medication, control and physical activity.