This Morning: Type 2 diabetes can be 'devastating' says expert
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More than 4.8 million people in the UK have diabetes, and someone is diagnosed with diabetes every two minutes. Type 1 diabetes is when your body can’t produce enough insulin, which causes the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood to become too high. Type 2 diabetes is the same but it is often linked to being overweight or inactive or having a family history of type 2 diabetes, whereas type 1 diabetes is not. Both types of diabetes have similar symptoms, including an excessive need to urinate. Express.co.uk reveals why diabetes makes you need to wee more often than normal.
Type 1 diabetes is more commonly diagnosed in children and symptoms come on quickly, whereas type 2 diabetes is generally diagnosed in people over the age of 40.
Type 2 diabetes is the most prevalent form of diabetes in the UK, accounting for about 90 percent of all diabetes, and type 1 diabetes accounts for nearly 10 percent.
The symptoms are pretty much the same but type 2 symptoms can be easier to miss because they appear more slowly.
Type 1 diabetes is caused by your body attacking itself, which makes it unable to produce insulin, whereas type 2 diabetes is where your body doesn’t make enough insulin or the insulin produced doesn’t work properly.
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There is no cure for either type of diabetes, but type 2 is more manageable than type 1.
Type 1 is managed by taking insulin to control your blood sugar, whereas type 2 can be managed in other ways too, such as through exercise and diet.
Treating diabetes may help to reverse some of the symptoms, such as urinating excessively and more frequently.
Diabetes symptoms
Symptoms of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes can include:
- Increased thirst
- Increased urination (particularly at night)
- Fatigue
- Blurred vision
- Unexpected weight loss
- Increased hunger
- Slow-healing sores and frequent infections
- Red, swollen gums
- Tingling or numbness in your hands or feet
- itching around your penis or vagina, or repeatedly getting thrush
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Why diabetes makes you pee
According to the Mayo Clinic, increased urination is linked to another symptom of diabetes – increased thirst.
The site explains: “When you have diabetes, excess glucose — a type of sugar — builds up in your blood.
“Your kidneys are forced to work overtime to filter and absorb the excess glucose.”
When your kidneys can’t keep up with the extra glucose, the excess glucose is excreted into your urine.
The glucose brings fluids from your tissues with it and this makes you dehydrated.
The Mayo Clinic site says: “This will usually leave you feeling thirsty. As you drink more fluids to quench your thirst, you’ll urinate even more.”
The urination and thirst cycle will repeat as long as your body is producing too much glucose, but these symptoms can be managed by treating your diabetes through insulin injections or other appropriate changes (depending on what type you have).
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