If I don’t do anything about my Type 2 Diabetes, what happens to me?
Type 2 Diabetes is very common
With more than 96 million1 Americans affected, Type 2 Diabetes is one of the most common diseases in the US. Out of every 10 people who actually have Type 2 Diabetes, guess how many do not know that they have it? NINE. Nine people out of 10 people who have Type 2 Diabetes don’t even know they have it.
Doctors see an estimated 1.4 million new diabetes patients each year. This might seem like a low number. The scary thing about this number is that at least 8 or 9 times this number is the number of people who should be diagnosed every year. You might be asking yourself “what happens if I don’t do anything about my Type 2 diabetes.”
Good News!
The best news? Type 2 Diabetes can be put into remission! People can maintain long and healthy lives, despite their diagnoses. This is due to updates in modern medicine and nutrition. As you will find out on this site, it is completely reversible by nutrition and eating habits alone.
To get the right treatment, patients first need to know they have prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes. We even know some people who have been diagnosed and aren’t doing anything about it. This is very dangerous. If you are one of the people who are wondering “what happens if I don’t do anything about my Type 2 diabetes,” keep reading.
Although it is a common diagnosis, it is also underdiagnosed. The CDC believes that 8.5 million Americans2 have no idea they have diabetes. This means that 23% of adults with diabetes diagnoses are receiving no treatment.
And, those with pre-diabetes usually have no idea that they have it. Imagine how much sooner this disease could be treated if more people knew they were headed towards this diagnosis!
Why do doctors forget to tell you that you have prediabetes?
So, what happens to these people?
How Type 2 Diabetes Works
We first need to talk about how diabetes affects the body. This is the only way to understand what happens to people who have untreated diabetes.
When a person eats, the body digests the food and then breaks it down into a special type of sugar. This sugar is glucose, and it’s important! Our bodies use it, kind of like cars use fuel, and the problem is our fuel needs extra help to get into our cells.
This help comes in the form of insulin. The pancreas creates insulin.
Insulin and Type 2 Diabetes
Insulin is a chemical that our body creates and releases from an organ called the pancreas. When it’s released, it acts like a key, which unlocks the entrance to each cell, so that glucose can get inside. Unfortunately for diabetics, their cells have a hard time connecting to insulin.
This means people with diabetes don’t have enough working insulin keys.
When this happens, the cells in the body don’t get the glucose, aka the fuel they need to keep working. This causes two problems. First, the cells don’t get the fuel they need. And second, instead of going into the cells like it’s supposed to, all that sugar stays in the bloodstream. This causes high blood sugar, and it is not a good thing!
We really need the glucose to be used by our cells, not to be floating around in our bloodstream with nowhere to go. The body has to do something with the excess glucose. It stores it as fat.
Effects of Long-term High Blood Sugar
Usually, when a person has diabetes, there are two main courses of treatment. If they don’t make enough, which is Type 1 Diabetes, their doctor prescribes insulin to inject into their bodies. This disease is an autoimmune disease, and if you have this you will have to be on insulin for life.
On this website, we are educating about Type 2 Diabetes. When you are diagnosed with this, your doctor will most likely prescribe a medication that allows the cells to recognize their natural insulin. Natural insulin is the insulin the body creates on its own. But what happens when a person doesn’t get treatment?
There are a lot of risks that come with having undiagnosed Type 2 Diabetes. Scroll down to see the list of horrific things that happen to everyone with untreated Type 2 Diabetes.
The third course of treatment, that your doctor may not talk to you about, is 100% dietary. If your doctor tells you that Type 2 diabetes is not reversible…run! Then join our Facebook group to see that it’s reversible. You can join by going here: www.facebook.com/groups/helpforyourdiabetes/
Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic Nonketotic Syndrome (HHNS) – say that 5 times fast!
People with Type 2 diabetes are more likely to experience HHNS3. HHNS occurs when our kidneys have to filter out the high amounts of glucose from the blood.
When the kidneys start removing a lot of chemicals from the blood, they also remove a lot of water from them. This can cause dangerous levels of dehydration. This leads to low blood pressure, heart problems, and even brain swelling.
This is most common in older people who have Type 2 diabetes.
Other Effects of Diabetes on the Body
If diabetes goes untreated for long periods blood glucose increases. This can cause major issues because our bodies aren’t meant to work under those conditions.
Long-term high blood sugar can damage our blood vessels over time. This means our body parts don’t get enough oxygen and nutrients to do their jobs. This can lead to side effects like vision changes, slow healing, and even kidney damage. Even with treatment, people with diabetes often end up with:
Vision impairment
Amputations
Heart attacks
And many other undesirable health complications.
But the risks are much, much worse for those who aren’t treating their diabetes.
We wrote about kidney damage from Type 2 Diabetes and whether or not it’s reversible, here.
Financial Costs of Untreated Diabetes
Medical side effects are what people talk about with untreated pre-diabetes.
And, what a lot of people don’t realize is that untreated diabetes can also be very expensive. It can lead to lengthy hospital stays, surgeries, mobility issues, and more.
These days the average hospital stay costs over $30,000. Do you, or your family member with advanced Type 2 Diabetes, have access to good health insurance? You will want to make sure that you do, especially if you are not going to change your diet at all.
When diabetes patients need emergency care. This is due to the condition going untreated. Things can get complicated fast! As most of us know, it’s better to keep up with your car’s oil changes than get a whole new engine. Our bodies aren’t too different, especially when it comes to diabetes.
So, if you think you may be experiencing signs of diabetes, get checked! Your kidneys, eyeballs, brain, and bank account will thank you later!
Now you never again have to ask yourself “what happens if I don’t do anything about my Type 2 diabetes.” It’s always better to have accurate information so you can take steps to reverse your Type 2 diabetes.
She helped start and managed a supplement company and has consulted on targeted supplement creation.
She has also served for over 7 years as an admin for very large Facebook groups about health and autoimmune issues.
Anna has years of unique experience seeing which protocols and treatments work for which people, having seen hundreds of thousands of patient experiences and testimonials.
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- https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.html.
- https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.html.
- https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-complications/hyperosmolar-hyperglycemic-nonketotic-syndrome.html#:~:text=Hyperosmolar%20Hyperglycemic%20Nonketotic%20Syndrome%20(HHNS)%2C%20also%20known%20as%20Hyperosmolar,people%20with%20type%202%20diabetes.
