Conditions in Depth

This page contains the basic information about Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus .

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Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Prevention

You can help to prevent type 2 diabetes by maintaining your ideal body weight, especially if you have a family history of diabetes. Diet and exercise have been shown to delay the onset of diabetes in people who are in the early stages of insulin resistance, identified by borderline blood sugar levels. The medication metformin (Glucophage) offers some additional protection for people with blood glucose levels that are between 100 and 125 mg/dL, near the diabetes range. People with blood sugar levels in this range sometimes are said to have pre-diabetes.

If you already have type 2 diabetes, you can delay or prevent complications by keeping tight control of your blood sugar. You can lower your risk of heart-related complications by taking an aspirin daily, and by aggressively managing other risk factors for atherosclerosis, such as high blood pressure, high blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, cigarette smoking and obesity. Yearly visits with an eye doctor and a foot specialist (podiatrist) are recommended to reduce eye and foot complications.