June 16th - Diabetes II

• Diabetes II

  Type II or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM) NIDDM (also called maturity-onset diabetes) usually occurs in people over 30 years. Often "runs in the family". The onset of NIDDM can be related to lifestyle (overweight, inactivity, certain drugs, excess alcohol). Obesity is a major risk factor for this type of diabetes and, unfortunately, increasingly more Americans--including children--are too sedentary and too fat. About 90% of individuals who have diabetes suffer from type 2 diabetes. People with this condition either don't produce enough insulin to control glucose levels or their cells simply do not respond to the insulin. If the pancreas produces some insulin, the production level is often not sufficient to lower the blood glucose level to normal. The main problem is that for some reason, insulin does not work properly after it reaches the body's cells. This is called "insulin resistance". Insulin resistance can happen if you are overweight. This can happen if you are overweight because fat "blocks" the insulin from moving the glucose into the body cells. Non-insulin dependent diabetes treatment centers mainly around diet and regular exercise. About 15 million Americans have type 2 Diabetes. Risk factors for developing type 2 Diabetes age (over 45 years old) obesity (the number of people with diabetes in an unhealthy weight range is double that found in the population without diabetes) gave birth to a large baby (over 4.0 kg/9 lbs.) a previous diagnosis of impaired glucose tolerance posted Saturday, June 16, 2007 10:41 AM by goalbysummer | 2 Comments [Edit Post]

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