A diabetes explainer

Diabetes is something we’ve all heard of, but a lot of us would be hard-pressed to come up with concrete details about the health condition. We’ve prepared a diabetes primer that covers everything you need to know, including the common types and – crucially – tips to help you lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Renza Scibilia, the Engagement Specialist from Diabetes Australia, says diabetes is a very complicated condition. “Diabetes is really complex,” she says. “It’s really a complex number of health conditions, and there are lots of different types.”

If you’re diagnosed with diabetes it means that your body can’t maintain stable levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood. Glucose is formed within the body as it digests foods that are high in carbohydrates (including bread, pasta, starchy vegetables, and sugary snacks).

A healthy body converts glucose from food sources into energy, a process that relies on the presence of the hormone insulin. People with diabetes don’t produce enough insulin for this process to occur naturally – leading to levels of glucose in their blood that can cause severe health complications. If left untreated in the long term, diabetes can lead to complications that include kidney disease, eye disease, and nerve damage. At this stage, there’s no cure.

Diabetes is a complicated and serious condition, but it can be managed. The process can be demanding – some people with type 2 diabetes and everyone with type 1 diabetes require daily insulin injections and regular monitoring of blood glucose levels – but people with diabetes are no different to any other person, and they are able to enjoy and participate in all aspects of life.

There are three main types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes

Approximately 10–15% of people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. This autoimmune condition usually presents in people under 40-years-old, but it can be diagnosed at any age. We still don’t know the cause of type 1 diabetes, but the body is triggered to destroy the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, resulting in dangerously high blood glucose levels.

In terms of symptoms, Renza advises watching out for the four Ts: thirst, tired, toilet, thinner.

“The symptoms are often really acute,” she says. “Noticing that you need to drink so much water, like an unquenchable thirst, or losing weight quite rapidly.

“That happens because you have a genetic predisposition to it happening, or there's also an environmental factor in there. Although, we don't know necessarily what those environment factors are,” says Renza.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 85–90% of diabetes in Australia, making it by far the most common form of the condition. Type 2 diabetes can present at any age, and certain factors can influence your risk of developing the condition, including:

• Being above the healthy weight range for your age.
• Having a family history of diabetes.
• Leading a sedentary lifestyle.

Individuals from particular cultural backgrounds are also at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This includes those with Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Polynesian, Chinese, Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Melanesian heritage.

Gestational diabetes

Roughly 12–14% of pregnant women will develop gestational diabetes. During pregnancy, the development of insulin can be suppressed by hormone production for the placenta – leading to higher than usual levels of glucose in the blood. The condition usually presents itself between weeks 24–28 of pregnancy. Most women’s insulin production will return to normal after they give birth, but the diagnoses of gestational diabetes indicates a higher level of risk for future development of type 2 diabetes for mother and child.

“Everybody needs to understand the seriousness of diabetes, and everybody needs to understand that diabetes doesn't discriminate,” says Renza. “We can identify people who are perhaps at risk, but equally there are a lot of people who are overweight and inactive who don’t develop type 2 diabetes.”

While type 1 diabetes can’t be prevented, the best preventative measures against the development of type 2 diabetes is a healthy lifestyle. Making positive food choices, exercising regularly, being a non-smoker and staying within a healthy weight range are all steps that lower the risk of developing diabetes.

It’s also possible to be diagnosed with pre-diabetes – a condition that affects around 16% of Australians. While pre-diabetes is asymptomatic, it indicates a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future. If you’ve been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, lifestyle changes like losing weight and engaging in regular exercise can drastically reduce your likelihood of developing the condition – or even prevent it altogether.

“We also just really need to think about the way we talk about diabetes too, because it’s a highly stigmatised health condition,” continues Renza.

“What happens is people who are willing to change actually don't want to get help, because they feel blamed and shamed, so we need to be talking about it in a really matter of fact way. And we need to recognise if people are diagnosed they need support, they need the right treatment, they need it detected as early as possible and they need to not feel stigmatised.”

If you believe you may have pre-diabetes or diabetes, talk to your GP about arranging a blood test to ascertain whether the levels of glucose in your blood are healthy.

Diabetes Australia is the national voice for all people living with diabetes in Australia and those at risk. If they hit their target, AIA Vitality members can donate their weekly $5 Active Benefits voucher to this charity to help change the future for diabetes.

Diabetes Australia