Actor Tom Hanks recently revealed he has the most common form of diabetes 鈥� type 2.
Those with type 2 diabetes don鈥檛 properly use insulin, which is needed to absorb sugar and starches in the blood.
Hanks has attributed the disease to both lifestyle choices and genetics. In the latest installment of 四虎影院鈥檚 Vital Signs, Dr. Saleemah Fahmi, an endocrinologist at Methodist Charlton Medical Center, explains how those factors impact the disease.
Three things about type 2 diabetes:
- Diabetes has 鈥渟kyrocketed over the past few decades,鈥� Fahmi said. 鈥淭here is a genetic preponderance to having diabetes. People with family history are going to be more likely to have diabetes. But a lot of that is lifestyle choices. It鈥檚 the way that they eat, the amount that they eat, the physical activity that they do or do not have.鈥�
- You can avoid type 2 鈥� but you have to start early. 鈥�Some people want to 鈥榬everse鈥� diabetes,鈥� Fahmi said. 鈥淏ut when you have diabetes, it鈥檚 a continuum. It鈥檚 years in the making. They can鈥檛 reverse it overnight. Sometimes, the pancreas is just so worn out it can鈥檛 resume adequate insulin production to keep the blood sugars normal.鈥�
- About 7 million Americans have undiagnosed diabetes. 鈥淔or type 2, the symptoms can creep up.,鈥� Fahmi said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e used to being tired, they鈥檙e used to waking up in the middle of the night to urinate. They鈥檙e used to being hungry all the time. The symptoms appear gradually. Until the symptoms get to be so drastic 鈥� a lot of times they just don鈥檛 present. A lot of people go undiagnosed for years. Some go five years.鈥�
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