Type 2 diabetes is where the insulin your pancreas makes, can’t work properly, or your pancreas can’t make enough insulin. This means your blood glucose (sugar) levels keep rising.
Around 90% of people with diabetes in the UK have type 2. It is a serious condition and can be lifelong.
Type 2 diabetes symptoms
Type 2 diabetes develops more slowly than type 1 diabetes. A lot of people don’t get any symptoms, or don’t notice them. Symptoms you may notice include:
- Going to the toilet more often, especially at night
- Feeling more tired because your body can’t get enough glucose into your cells for energy
- Losing weight without trying
- Genital itching or thrush
- Cuts and wounds taking longer to heal
- Blurred vision
- Feeling extremely thirsty
If you feel very unwell or your symptoms have come on quickly, seek an urgent appointment with your GP or call NHS 111. If you have any diabetes symptoms, it’s important to contact your GP and ask for a blood test for diabetes.
There isn’t a permanent cure for type 2 diabetes yet. But strong evidence shows that some people can put their type 2 diabetes into remission by losing weight. Remission in type 2 diabetes means your blood sugar levels are below the diabetes range, and you don’t need to take diabetes medication.
Type 2 diabetes treatment
The treatments for type 2 diabetes help to manage blood sugar levels and also reduce your risk of diabetes complications.
Treatments include:
- Eating healthy food, being as active as you can and keeping to a healthy weight
- Medications such as tablets and injections, that may include insulin
- Weight loss surgery
Support to lose weight can be found at: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/
Diabetes in Slough
Slough has the highest prevalence of diabetes in the South East, with 8.9% of people living with a diagnosis. Slough also has a high proportion of BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) patients.
People from Black African, African Caribbean and South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi) backgrounds are two to four times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than White Europeans and are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes from a younger age.
For more information about Type 2 Diabetes, visit: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/