People with Type 2 diabetes fall into 3 distinct groups

[longknife]

I guess I fall into Group 3 but don't appear to have any of the symptoms (Maybe spending so much time on the web falls under “mental illness”)



The investigators found that the patients in one group (which the researchers called subtype 1) tended to be younger, with a higher risk of obesity, kidney disease and the retina problems that can lead to blindness, as compared to people outside this group. They also had lower white blood cell counts.



A second group (subtype 2) showed a greater propensity for both cancer and heart disease, but also tended to have lower BMIs — they were less likely to be obese. The third group (subtype 3) showed a higher prevalence of heart disease as well, but also had a higher risk of mental illness and allergies.



Read story @ People with Type 2 diabetes fall into 3 distinct groups, study finds | Fox News

 

[Iron Head]

I had a whacked out reaction to steroids I was taking for allergy congestion a couple of years ago when I suffered what my endocrinologist called "glucose toxicity". That is where your cells because resistant to your insulin. It was really fucked up, and those steroids the doctors give to you to treat congestion can do this because it fucks with your metabolism.

I was labeled Type 2. I got real sick, stayed in the hospital for 4 days, and was sent home on giving myself insulin objections. Eventually I was weened off that and went into oral meds. Then after listening to me bitch about hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) bouts, the doctor weened me off of the oral meds. I still check my blood sugar as a precaution and get my A1C every 90 days, as well as stick to a healthy diet. But I don't have to medicate anymore.

Metabolism problems are serious business. It can lead to your death.

 

[waltky]

Diabetes epidemic 'marches on'...

Deadly diabetes in 'unrelenting march'
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 - The world is facing an "unrelenting march" of diabetes which now affects one in 11 people, the World Health Organization warns.

In a major report it warned cases had nearly quadrupled to 422 million in 2014 from 108 million in 1980. High blood sugar levels are a major killer - linked to 3.7 million deaths around the world each year, it says. And officials said the numbers would continue to increase unless "drastic action" was taken. The report lumps both type 1 and type 2 diabetes together, but the surge in cases is predominantly down to type 2 - the form closely linked to poor lifestyle.

As the world's waistlines have ballooned - with one-in-three people now overweight, so too has the number of diabetes cases. Dr Etienne Krug, the WHO official in charge of leading efforts against diabetes, told the BBC: "Diabetes is a silent disease, but it is on an unrelenting march that we need to stop. "We can stop it, we know what needs to be done, but we cannot let it evolve like it does because it has a huge impact on people's health, on families and on society."

Failing to control levels of sugar in the blood has devastating health consequences. It triples the risk of a heart attack and leaves people 20 times more likely to have a leg amputated, as well as increasing the risk of stroke, kidney failure, blindness and complications in pregnancy. Diabetes itself is the eighth biggest killer in the world, accounting for 1.5 million deaths each year. But a further 2.2 million deaths are linked to high blood sugar levels. And 43% of the deaths were before the age of 70.

Moving burden

 

[longknife]

And I just read somewhere that the cost of insulin is increasing.

 

[waltky]

To develop sensors to treat diabetes...

Apple Hires Secret Team for Treating Diabetes
April 12, 2017 - Apple has hired a team of biomedical engineers as part of a secret initiative, initially envisioned by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, to develop sensors to treat diabetes, CNBC reported citing three people familiar with the matter. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

The engineers are expected to work at a nondescript office in Palo Alto, California, close to the corporate headquarters, CNBC said. The news comes at the time when the line between pharmaceuticals and technology is blurring as companies are joining forces to tackle chronic diseases using high-tech devices that combine biology, software and hardware, thereby jump-starting a novel field of medicine called bioelectronics.

A woman walks past an Apple store in Beijing, China​

Last year, GlaxoSmithKline and Google parent Alphabet unveiled a joint company aimed at marketing bioelectronic devices to fight illness by attaching to individual nerves.

U.S. biotech firms Setpoint Medical and EnteroMedics Inc. have already shown early benefits of bioelectronics in treating rheumatoid arthritis and suppressing appetite in the obese. Other companies playing around the idea of bioelectronics include Medtronic Plc, Proteus Digital Technology, Sanofi SA and Biogen.

CNBC: Apple Hires Secret Team for Treating Diabetes