
What drugs are available to treat type 2 diabetes (T2D)?
There are currently 12 different classes of drugs available to treat T2D. The most exciting development is the demonstration of cardiovascular (CV) benefits from two of these new classes, the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) and selective sodium glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors.
When is insulin therapy indicated in patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2D)?
Both the AACE/ACE and ADA/EASD recommend insulin therapy when patients with T2D fail to achieve their individualized target ranges.
Is there a cure for type 2 diabetes?
There's no cure for type 2 diabetes, but losing weight, eating well and exercising can help you manage the disease. If diet and exercise aren't enough to manage your blood sugar, you may also need diabetes medications or insulin therapy. Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly.
What is the pathophysiology of T2D?
T2D is a progressive disease in which the pancreas cannot synthesize and secrete sufficient insulin to meet the demands of insulin-resistant patients. Both the AACE/ACE and ADA/EASD recommend insulin therapy when patients with T2D fail to achieve their individualized target ranges.

Can t2d be treated?
There's no cure for type 2 diabetes, but losing weight, eating well and exercising can help you manage the disease. If diet and exercise aren't enough to manage your blood sugar, you may also need diabetes medications or insulin therapy.
What happens t2d?
When you have type 2 diabetes, your body still breaks down carbohydrate from your food and drink and turns it into glucose. The pancreas then responds to this by releasing insulin. But because this insulin can't work properly, your blood sugar levels keep rising. This means more insulin is released.
Can t2d be reversed?
Although there's no cure for type 2 diabetes, studies show it's possible for some people to reverse it. Through diet changes and weight loss, you may be able to reach and hold normal blood sugar levels without medication.
What causes the pancreas to stop producing insulin?
Without insulin, the cells cannot get enough energy from food. This form of diabetes results from the body's immune system attacking the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The beta cells become damaged and, over time, the pancreas stops producing enough insulin to meet the body's needs.
Can your pancreas start working again type 2 diabetes?
Beta cells begin working again in people who are in remission from type 2 diabetes, researchers have said. Further analysis of the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) explored the link between remission and the function of beta cells in the pancreas.
What fruit should diabetics avoid?
Dried fruit, fruit juice, and certain tropical fruits, like mangoes, tend to contain more sugar. It may be a good idea to limit portions or eat these foods less often. Some canned fruit has added sugar or is packaged in syrup.
What kind of food should diabetics avoid?
Sugar-sweetened beverages. Sugary beverages are the worst drink choice for someone with diabetes. ... Trans fats. Artificial trans fats are extremely unhealthy. ... White bread, rice, and pasta. ... Fruit-flavored yogurt. ... Sweetened breakfast cereals. ... Flavored coffee drinks. ... Honey, agave nectar, and maple syrup. ... Dried fruit.More items...
Can walking cure diabetes?
Research studies have shown that walking can be beneficial in bringing down blood glucose and therefore improving diabetes control. In a study involving people with type 1 diabetes, participants were assigned to either take a 30 minute walk after eating or have the same meal but remain inactive.
How long can you live with type 2 diabetes?
Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly. In fact, you can be living with type 2 diabetes for years and not know it. When signs and symptoms are present, they may include:
Why is Type 2 diabetes so bad?
Type 2 diabetes is primarily the result of two interrelated problems: Cells in muscle, fat and the liver become resistant to insulin. Because these cells don't interact in a normal way with insulin, they don't take in enough sugar. The pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin to manage blood sugar levels.
Is there a cure for diabetes?
Type 2 is more common in older adults, but the increase in the number of children with obesity has led to more cases of type 2 diabetes in younger people. There's no cure for type 2 diabetes, but losing weight, eating well and exercising can help you manage the disease.
Does type 2 diabetes release insulin?
In type 2 diabetes, this process doesn't work well. Instead of moving into your cells, sugar builds up in your bloodstream. As blood sugar levels increase, the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas release more insulin.
What Causes Type 2 Diabetes?
Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into the cells in your body for use as energy. If you have type 2 diabetes, cells don’t respond normally to insulin; this is called insulin resistance. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond.
Symptoms and Risk Factors
Type 2 diabetes symptoms often develop over several years and can go on for a long time without being noticed (sometimes there aren’t any noticeable symptoms at all). Because symptoms can be hard to spot, it’s important to know the risk factors and to see your doctor to get your blood sugar tested if you have any of them.
Testing for Type 2 Diabetes
A simple blood test will let you know if you have diabetes. If you’ve gotten your blood sugar tested at a health fair or pharmacy, follow up at a clinic or doctor’s office to make sure the results are accurate.
Managing Diabetes
Unlike many health conditions, diabetes is managed mostly by you, with support from your health care team (including your primary care doctor, foot doctor, dentist, eye doctor, registered dietitian nutritionist, diabetes educator, and pharmacist), family, and other important people in your life.
Type 2 Diabetes in Children and Teens
Childhood obesity rates are rising, and so are the rates of type 2 diabetes in youth. More than 75% of children with type 2 diabetes have a close relative who has it, too. But it’s not always because family members are related; it can also be because they share certain habits that can increase their risk.
Get Support
Tap into online diabetes communities for encouragement, insights, and support. The American Diabetes Association’s Community page external icon and ADCES’s Peer Support Resources external icon are great ways to connect with others who share your experience.
What is the best treatment for type 2 diabetes?
If your body mass index — a measure of weight and height — meets the criteria for obesity, your doctor might recommend weight loss surgery to help treat type 2 diabetes. This procedure is also known as metabolic or bariatric surgery.
How to control blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics?
To help manage your blood sugar levels, try to: eat a well-balanced diet. get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per day, five days per week.
What is the T2D database?
Researchers have built a public database, the T2D Knowledge Portal#N#(link is external)#N#, of DNA sequence, functional genomic and epigenomic information, and clinical data from studies on type 2 diabetes and its cardiac and renal complications. The data set and analytical tools were made available in October 2015, and are accessible to academic and industry researchers to identify and validate changes in DNA that spur the onset of diabetes, alter disease severity, speed or slow disease progression, or have a protective effect. In 2016, the Portal online library and discovery engine greatly expanded data and search capabilities to accelerate the pace of scientific advancement. Simplified, customizable navigation of aggregated data from research supported by the NIH and other institutions facilitates new understanding of diabetes by increasing users’ ability to share and evaluate content.
What is the SC for T2D?
The steering committee (SC) for T2D is comprised of representatives from NIH, FNIH, participating companies, and non-profit organizations. The SC meets on a regular basis and is responsible for monitoring ongoing progress towards milestones. The SC operates under the direction of the overall AMP executive committee comprised of representatives from NIH, FNIH, participating companies, the Food and Drug Administration, and non-profit organizations.
How many people are at risk for T2D?
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) currently affects about 26 million people in the U.S. and more than 382 million people worldwide. As many as 79 million adults in the U.S. have “pre-diabetes” and are at high risk of developing T2D. Many complications are associated with the disease, including an increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
Can T2D be reversed?
While a number of therapies are approved for T2D, non e can reverse disease progression over the long term or prevent complications of the disease. This deficiency is likely due to incomplete understanding of the many biological processes involved in disease development and progression. The research community has recently generated an enormous amount of genetic data on T2D in diverse populations that is unmatched in most other diseases. Much of the data is linked to clinical information, making it a rich resource for research aimed at understanding such a complex disease.
What is a type 2 diabetic?
A small number of people with type 2 diabetes can develop a hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (a condition of very high blood sugar associated with a decreased level of consciousness and low blood pressure ).
How to prevent Type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable by staying a normal weight, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet (high in fruits and vegetables and low in sugar and saturated fats). Treatment involves exercise and dietary changes.
What causes diabetes type 2?
The development of type 2 diabetes is caused by a combination of lifestyle and genetic factors. While some of these factors are under personal control, such as diet and obesity, other factors are not, such as increasing age, female gender, and genetics. Obesity is more common in women than men in many parts of Africa. The nutritional status of a mother during fetal development may also play a role, with one proposed mechanism being that of DNA methylation. The intestinal bacteria Prevotella copri and Bacteroides vulgatus have been connected with type 2 diabetes.
How much beta cells do you lose in type 2 diabetes?
But when type 2 diabetes has become manifest, a type 2 diabetic will have lost about half of their beta cells.
Why is Type 2 diabetes so common?
Type 2 diabetes primarily occurs as a result of obesity and lack of exercise. Some people are more genetically at risk than others. Type 2 diabetes makes up about 90% of cases of diabetes, with the other 10% due primarily to type 1 diabetes and gestational diabetes. In type 1 diabetes there is a lower total level of insulin to control blood ...
Diagnosis
- Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed using the glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test. This blood test indicates your average blood sugar level for the past two to three months. Results are interpreted as follows: 1. Below 5.7% is normal. 2. 5.7% to 6.4% is diagnosed as prediabetes. 3. 6.5% or high…
Clinical Trials
- Explore Mayo Clinic studiestesting new treatments, interventions and tests as a means to prevent, detect, treat or manage this condition.
Lifestyle and Home Remedies
- Careful management of type 2 diabetes can reduce your risk of serious — even life-threatening — complications. Consider these tips: 1. Commit to managing your diabetes.Learn all you can about type 2 diabetes. Make healthy eating and physical activity part of your daily routine. 2. Work with your team.Establish a relationship with a diabetes educator, and ask your diabetes treatment tea…
Alternative Medicine
- Many alternative medicine treatments claim to help people living with diabetes. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, studies haven't provided enough evidence to recommend any alternative therapies for blood sugar management. Research has shown the following results about popular supplements for type 2 diabetes: 1. Chromiumsupple…
Coping and Support
- Type 2 diabetes is a serious disease, and following your diabetes treatment plan takes round-the-clock commitment. To meet the demands of diabetes management, you may need a good support network. Anxiety and depression are common in people living with diabetes. Talking to a counselor or therapist may help you cope with the lifestyle changes or stressors that come with …
Preparing For Your Appointment
- Keeping your annual wellness visits enables your health care provider to screen for diabetes and to monitor and treat conditions that increase your risk of diabetes — such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or a high BMI. If you are seeing your health care provider because of symptoms that may be related to diabetes, you can prepare for your appointment by being ready to answer …
Overview
Symptoms
- Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly. In fact, you can be living with type 2 diabetes for years and not know it. When signs and symptoms are present, they may include: 1. Increased thirst 2. Frequent urination 3. Increased hunger 4. Unintended weight loss 5. Fatigue 6. Blurred vision 7. Slow-healing sores 8. Frequent infections 9. Numbness or tingling in the hands …
Causes
- Type 2 diabetes is primarily the result of two interrelated problems: 1. Cells in muscle, fat and the liver become resistant to insulin. Because these cells don't interact in a normal way with insulin, they don't take in enough sugar. 2. The pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin to manage blood sugar levels. Exactly why this happens is unknown, but being overweight and inactive are …
Risk Factors
- Factors that may increase your risk of type 2 diabetes include: 1. Weight.Being overweight or obese is a main risk. 2. Fat distribution.Storing fat mainly in your abdomen — rather than your hips and thighs — indicates a greater risk. Your risk of type 2 diabetes rises if you're a man with a waist circumference above 40 inches (101.6 centimeters) or a woman with a measurement above 35 i…
Complications
- Type 2 diabetes affects many major organs, including your heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes and kidneys. Also, factors that increase the risk of diabetes are risk factors for other serious chronic diseases. Managing diabetes and controlling your blood sugar can lower your risk for these complications or coexisting conditions (comorbidities). Potential complications of diabetes and …
Prevention
- Healthy lifestyle choices can help prevent type 2 diabetes, and that's true even if you have biological relatives living with diabetes. If you've received a diagnosis of prediabetes, lifestyle changes may slow or stop the progression to diabetes. A healthy lifestyle includes: 1. Eating healthy foods.Choose foods lower in fat and calories and higher...