What should you know about type 2 diabetes?

Insulin helps glucose move from the bloodstream into cells for energy. In type 2 diabetes, cells respond less well to insulin, and the pancreas may gradually make less of it. High glucose can cause thirst, passing urine often, tiredness or blurred vision, although some people have no clear symptoms.

Over time, diabetes can affect the nerves, blood vessels, eyes and kidneys. Peripheral neuropathy may reduce feeling in the feet, while poor circulation can make wounds harder to heal. These complications are risks to monitor, not predictions about what will happen to you.

Attend regular reviews so your glucose plan, blood pressure, cholesterol, kidney function and foot health can be checked. Take medicines as prescribed and tell the clinician about side effects, missed doses or changes in eating and activity.

Choose regular meals, include fibre-rich foods, stay active in ways suitable for your health, and inspect your feet for blisters, cracks or colour changes. Do not stop treatment because a single reading looks better. A clinician can adjust the plan safely.

Contact a clinician promptly for a foot wound, spreading redness, warmth, swelling, fever, new loss of feeling or repeated low glucose symptoms. Seek emergency help for confusion, fainting, severe breathing difficulty, chest pressure, or sudden weakness or trouble speaking.

Ask which glucose checks you need, what your personal targets are, how often your kidneys and feet should be reviewed, and what to do when you are ill. Ask whether symptoms could reflect Peripheral Neuropathy or Chronic Kidney Disease.