What is Type 2 Diabetes?
According to the CDC, Type 2 Diabetes occurs when the insulin hormone in the body does not allow the blood sugar into cells to be used as an energy source, also referred to as insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone the pancreas creates allowing blood sugar into the cells of the body. Studies show Type 2 Diabetes is reversible through diet changes, weight loss, and blood sugar management.
How Does it Affect My Body?
When the cells in your body do not respond to the insulin hormone, this is called "insulin resistance," or Type 2 Diabetes. The pancreas will continue to create more insulin in the body but cannot speed up and maintain the amount of insulin needed. When this happens, your body's blood sugar increases which can lead to prediabetes and, eventually, Type 2 Diabetes.
How Many People are Affected in the World?
Diabetes Mellitus is the ninth major cause of death in the world as of 2018. Approximately 90-95% of Americans have Type 2 Diabetes. In North America and the Caribbean, 1 in 7 or 51 million adults are currently living with diabetes (IDF diabetes atlas, 2022). In 2021, there were 931,000 deaths caused by diabetes and 1 in 4 adults living with diabetes were undiagnosed.
How Many People are Affected in Florida?
As of 2020, about 1,944,000 adults in Florida have been diagnosed with Diabetes. Roughly 546,000 people in Florida have diabetes but don't know it.
The prevalence rate of diabetes in the state of Florida more than doubled from 5.2% in 1995 to 12.6% in 2018. Women in Florida had a prevalence rate of 11.7% while men had 13.6% in 2018. In the same year, 4% of Floridian adults from ages 18 to 44 reported being diagnosed with diabetes whereas adults ages 45 to 64 came to be 14.9% and 23.5% for adults over the age of 65.
A Survey was conducted in 2016 to calculate how many people were diagnosed with diabetes across the state of Florida. According to the survey, Collier County (7.8%) and St. Johns County (6.4%) both had the lowest rates amongst the 25 counties in Florida (BRFSS, 2016). The highest rate of diabetes in Florida resulted in Baker County (22.3%), Gadsen County (23.4%), and Hardee County (23.6%) (BRFSS, 2016).
Between 2018 and 2019 there were a reported 1,291 students with Type 2 Diabetes in Florida schools which was a 19.7% increase from 2016 to 2017.
In 2019, St. Lucie County reported 12.2% of adults were diagnosed with Diabetes.
What are the Risk Factors of Type II Diabetes?
Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes can develop unnoticed for several years before being diagnosed.
- Overweight/ obesity
- 45 years of age or older
- Avoiding physical activity/ exercise at least 3 times a week
- Prediabetes
- Gestational Diabetes, or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9lbs
- Are a minority (African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, Asian)
Treatment
- Healthy eating
- Physical activity/ exercise
- Weight loss
- Diabetes medications (such as insulin and oral medication)
- Blood sugar monitoring
Complications
In addition to the complications of Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes complications also include:
- Slow healing
- Eye damage
- Hearing impairment
- Unintended weight loss
- Fatigue
- Areas of darkened skin (armpits, neck, and under the breasts): Also known as Acanthosis Nigricans.