Type 1, 2, and 3 Diabetes

Posted by Russ on March 22, 2010 in Fighting Diabetes · 0 Comments

There are 3 types of medically recognized diabetes. All are related to both the amount of insulin produced and the ability of the body to use insulin effectively. These 3 types are broadly described in these ways:

Type 1: No insulin production whatsoever. The natural insulin producer, the pancreas, doesn’t work. This can be because of over work due to long-term resistance to insulin requiring long-term overproduction or pancreas destruction by disease (certain sorts of flu have been know to cause this). Thus, one is required to inject insulin, the amount determined by blood sugar readings, either automatic (pumps) or manual meter readings.

Type 2: Insulin production, accompanied by insulin resistance. A person with type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed as such because of high blood sugar reading after eating and at times when normal insulin using people do not have high blood sugar readings. Insulin resistance is caused by obesity (fat cells require more insulin) and systematic nutritional lack. Not all obese people are diabetic, but the odds are in favor it happening if you are. Chronic lack of correct nutrition causes the body to use insulin as a nutrition scavenging source as well as a transport mechanism for blood sugar into the individual cells, requiring more insulin to be present within the system.

Daily rigorous exercise increase insulin sensitivity. This generally results in the body needing to produce less insulin.

Too much insulin in bodily fluids slows circulation both in and between cells. This contributes to poor circulation in the extremities and deterioration of the blood circulation system (heart attacks, strokes, clogged arteries) as well as break down of the nervous system in the hands and feet. Common medical practice is to treat a type 2 diabetic as a person that has had 1 heart attack, whether they have or not.

Type 3 diabetes is a recent classification. This is roughly a combination of the first 2 types, in which the person has insulin resistance, makes insulin, but does not produce enough insulin naturally to take care of their needs. It has been said that this is a result of the medical profession prescribing insulin to type 2 diabetics with out controlling diet or exercising effectively.