Diabetes FAQ’s

What causes Diabetes?

With type 1 Diabetes the body has attacked the pancreas causing such damage that the pancreas is unable to produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone that moves Glucose (or sugar) from the blood and into the cells in the body. Often, the exact trigger as to why this occurs is unknown, however it is believed that viruses can lead to this process.  

Type 2 Diabetes tends to progress over years/ decades. Often without symptoms. It is caused by an overwhelmed pancreas and linked to being overweight. There are also medication that can increase the blood sugar in a similar way. 

Diabetes symptoms

The most common symptoms would include peeing a lot of urine, feeling thirsty and tiredness. Some people might notice weight loss.

How does diabetes affect the body?

Blood glucose levels should be kept within a tight range within the blood at all times. Its the pancreas’ job to do this. When the level is high (as with Diabetes) then it affects the whole body. These effects might not be apparent straight away and tend to accumulate over time.

Here are some complications that can occur earlier on in the course of the disease.

Eyes: damage to the smallest blood vessels can lead to damage, with small bleeds in the back of the eye: this is why people are invited for retinopathy screening once a year. This involves taking a picture of the back of the eye to catch any early changes.

Kidney: there are many small blood vessels in the kidney. Sugar can damage these thus impairing it’s filtration capacity. Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage renal failure in the UK. Kidney function is checked once a year on the NHS by a blood test and urine sample.

Legs: damage to small blood vessels will affect blood circulation, this is often seen in the legs. Poor blood supply can lead to a higher risk of infection of the skin, leg ulcers and the risk of amputation. To make things worse, high sugars will affect the nerve function leading to numbness in the feet. This can increase the risk of a skin infection/ cut/ ulcer going unnoticed by the person. Foot checks are an important part of the NHS annual review.

Erectile dysfunction. Having damaged blood vessels in the penis makes erections more difficult to maintain. Having a problem here is an early sign that diabetes is causing damage.

Over the years, damage will occur to the bigger blood vessels. The results of which can have a huge impact on your health. These include having heart attacks and strokes with significant consequences to the person’s health and independence.

Can diabetes be cured?

Type 2 Diabetes can be put into remission. This is not quite the same as a cure as there is always the risk of a relapse (eg with weight gain, reverting to old lifestyle etc). This is a raidly evolving area of research and is finally giving people hope. Remission is much more likely to be achieved by changes to lifestyle than medication only.

Remission means getting your blood sugar back in to the normal range. We have helped many people achieve this within months. Research is ongoing as to how long this can be maintained. Success really does depend on how long you’ve had diabetes, other health conditions you have and how many tablets you take. There is no doubt that improving blood sugars is available for all. However, a rapid lowering of blood sugars can be dangerous if you take medication which is why we’ve created this clinic to supervise people whilst making these changes.

Which diabetes needs insulin?

With type 1, the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin therefore they need to inject.

Some people in the advanced stages of type 2 diabetes can end up needing insulin as well. This doesn’t mean that type 2 has ‘turned into’ type 1.

Which diabetes is worse?

Both types of diabetes have the same end result: high blood sugar. Whilst type 1 diabetes can be harder to manage (because you have to watch for both high and low sugar) type 2 is often linked to other conditions such as fatty liver & high blood pressure.

There is no cure for type 1 diabetes, however we are seeing those with type 2 diabetes achieve remission (normal blood sugar) with lifestyle change. In fact, as part of our clinic we have seen high proportions of our patients being able to achieve this.

Does diabetes make you crave sugar?

A common misconception is that craving sugar is a symptom. The problem is actually the opposite; blood sugars are high rather than low. Craving sugar or low blood sugar is much more likely to be a symptom of eating a lot of carbohydrates. The blood sugar can only truly drop too low if you are taking insulin or other tablets to lower your blood sugar.

Will diabetes kill me?

It is the complications of diabetes that make you ill. The biggest cause of death is through having a heart attack. Unfortunately, diabetes is linked to a poor quality of life due to complications. This is why our main priority as a clinic is to promote preventative medicine.

Dr Nerys Frater