Type 2 diabetes
WHAT IS DIABETES?
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Definition: what is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disorder in the assimilation, use and storage of sugars provided by food. This translates into a high blood glucose level (also called glycemia): this is called hyperglycemia.
Food is composed of lipids (fats), proteins (animal or vegetable proteins) and carbohydrates (sugars, starches). They provide the bulk of the energy the body needs to function, pass through the intestine, and then join the bloodstream.
When we eat, the blood sugar level rises, and the carbohydrates are then transformed essentially into glucose. The pancreas detects the increase in blood sugar. The beta cells of the pancreas, grouped in clusters called islets of Langerhans, secrete insulin. Insulin works like a key, allowing glucose to enter the body's cells: in muscles, fat tissue and liver where it can be processed and stored. Glucose then decreases in the blood.
Another hormone, glucagon, allows the release of glucose stored in the liver, outside of meals, during a drop in energy or a drop in blood sugar,
It is the balance of these hormones that keeps blood sugar levels in the body stable. In the case of diabetes, this regulatory system does not work.
Examination and diagnosis: how do you know if you have diabetes?
A blood glucose test is performed in a medical laboratory. Diabetes is proven when fasting blood glucose levels are equal to or greater than 1.26 g/l twice or equal to or greater than 2 g/l at any time of day.
The two types of diabetes
There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes, which affects about 6% of diabetics, and type 2 diabetes, which affects 92%. The other types of diabetes concern the remaining 2% (MODY, LADA or diabetes secondary to certain diseases or medication).
Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes or IDD)
formerly known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), is usually found in young people: children, adolescents or young adults.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes
Symptoms are usually intense thirst, heavy urination, rapid weight loss. This diabetes results from the disappearance of beta cells from the pancreas, leading to a total lack of insulin.
The body no longer recognizes these beta cells and destroys them (beta cells are destroyed by antibodies and immune cells, lymphocytes, made by the body): type 1 diabetes is said to be an autoimmune disease. Glucose that cannot enter the cells returns to the bloodstream. The level of glucose in the blood then rises.
Causes of Type 1 Diabetes
It is not known why this destruction of the islets of Langerhans occurs, why in some people and not in others. There is a genetic (familial) predisposition but the other causes are not well known. The environment may also play a role.
Treatment of type 1 diabetes
Since the body no longer produces insulin at all, the only treatment currently available is insulin intake:
either in the form of injections (injecting insulin with a syringe or a pen),
or with an insulin pump (pump therapy), a portable or implantable device designed to deliver insulin continuously.
Diabetes and heredity
The weight of heredity differs between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. If one of the two parents has type 2 diabetes, the risk of transmission to offspring is about 40%, and if both parents have it, the risk rises to 70%. In type 1 diabetes, the risk is between 4% and 8%, more precisely 8% if the father is diabetic, 4% if the mother is diabetic (but 30% if both parents are diabetic). It is therefore useful to build a family tree to identify family members with diabetes and to know their genetic heritage.
Type 2 diabetes
generally appears in people over 40 years of age. However, the first cases of adolescents and young adults affected appear in France.
Overweight, obesity and lack of physical activity are the telltale cause of type 2 diabetes in genetically predisposed individuals. Underhanded and painless, the development of type 2 diabetes can go unnoticed for a long time: it is estimated that an average of 5 to 10 years elapse between the appearance of the first hyperglycemia and diagnosis.
In type 2 diabetes, formerly known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), the process is different from that of type 1 diabetes. Two abnormalities are responsible for hyperglycemia .
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