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Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for approximately ninety-five percent of all diabetes cases and affects in excess of 50 million Americans, is mainly seen in adults over 40 years of age. Today, however, it is also being seen increasingly at younger ages, and is even being seen in very young children. The symptoms of type 2 diabetes are often quite mild in the early stages of the condition and you can be suffering from type 2 diabetes for many months or years before it is diagnosed. It is however a potentially serious condition and undiagnosed type 2 diabetes can result in a variety of serious complications including blindness, renal failure, wounds which do not heal and coronary artery disease. Estimates show that approximately one in five adults above the age of 65 in the US suffers from type 2 diabetes. The condition is more common amongst, Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites and is slightly more common in older women than in men. The original source of type 2 diabetes is something of a mystery and, while it is thought that there is a genetic basis to the disease there is far less evidence for this than is found for type 1 diabetes. There is however clear evidence that environmental factors play a significant part in the development of type 2 diabetes and this is particularly true in the case of obesity, a lack of exercise and a largely sedentary lifestyle. A lot of people think that type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are identical and that the difference lies simply in the name, with type 1 diabetes referring to the disease in children and type 2 diabetes being used for adults. However, this is not so and, while there are a number of similarities, type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are totally separate conditions and require very different treatment. With type 1 diabetes the body cannot produce insulin, which is necessary for the transfer of glucose (the body's primary source of energy) from the blood into the cells of the body. With type 2 diabetes the difficulty is not that the body cannot produce insulin but that the body becomes resistant to insulin. At present there is no cure for type 2 diabetes which is a chronic condition and treatment is therefore designed to manage the condition to lower the frequency of complications several of which can be life-threatening. Treatment is also aimed at maintaining the best possible quality of life for the patient. Initially, patients with type 2 diabetes are treated with a carefully designed program of diet and exercise (including a weight loss program where this is needed) and this can be very effective in controlling glucose levels within the blood and can generally improve a patient's sensitivity to insulin considerably. If this treatment is not successful, or in cases where the condition progresses, type 2 diabetes is normally treated with a range of medication.
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