Can someone explain to me the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes? (In "lay" terms, please!)

Question

I think I've been exhibiting some of symptoms of diabetes (examples: extreme thirst, frequent urination, headaches, etc.) and when I mentioned it to a friend (who is obv. not a doctor) she didn't seem to think I had diabetes. She has a friend who does and he exhibits the classic symptoms everyone thinks of associated with diabetes: typically a "drunk", woozy and lethargic feeling when the blood sugar is low. Now, I do NOT have symptoms like THAT, however after doing research there are those that I do have -- actually what seems like quite a large majority.

Are there any doctors out there who might be able to answer my question? I hate going to the doctor's with a list of symptoms, ready to produce my own diagnosis.

And I am not a hypocondriac. My mother, who hated going to the doctors, died of a sudden stroke while she had no known health problems. I think she may have been diabetic because a stroke is a complication, and she also had glaucoma and possibly high bloodpressure.

Answer 1

Do You Have Diabetes?
Millions of people have diabetes mellitus, commonly called diabetes. You may be surprised to know that many of these people don’t even know they have it.

Diabetes is a serious disease and should not be ignored. If you have it, correct treatment can help you live a long and healthy life.

What Is Diabetes?
If you have diabetes, your body can’t make or use insulin. Insulin helps change sugar into energy to keep you alive.

There are different kinds of diabetes. The main ones are type 1 and type 2.

Type 1 Diabetes
This type of diabetes is mostly found in children and young adults. If you have type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin and you must inject insulin daily.

You May:
urinate often
be very thirsty
be very hungry
lose a lot of weight
be very tired
be irritable
have blurred vision
have trouble seeing.
Type 2 Diabetes
Most people with diabetes have this form of the disease. Type 2 is usually found in people over 45, who have diabetes in their family, who are overweight, who don’t exercise, and who have cholesterol problems. It is also common in certain racial and ethnic groups (blacks, American Indians, and Hispanics) and in women who had diabetes when they were pregnant. If you have type 2 diabetes, your body cannot make enough insulin or correctly use it. Treatment is diabetes pills and sometimes insulin injections, as well as diet and exercise.

You May Have:
any of the symptoms of type 1 diabetes
a lot of infections
cuts or bruises that heal slowly
tingling or numbness in the hands or feet
skin, gum, or bladder infections that keep coming back.
Controlling Diabetes
Daily monitoring and careful control of blood sugar levels are the most important steps to take for people with diabetes. If not treated, diabetes can cause:

High blood sugar (which could make you thirsty, tired, lose weight, urinate often, or give you infections that won’t go away)
Many serious health problems (which could hurt your eyes, kidneys, nerves, or heart).
Warning: Low Blood Sugar
People with diabetes may develop low blood sugar because their blood has too much insulin or other blood sugar-lowering medication or from not eating enough food. It is important to follow the eating and medication schedule your doctor has prescribed to avoid low blood sugar.

Low blood sugar could make you shaky, dizzy, sweaty, hungry, have a headache, have pale skin color, have sudden mood or behavior changes, have clumsy or jerky movements, have difficulty paying attention, feel confused, or have tingling sensations around the mouth.

Taking Care of Your Diabetes
The best way to take care of your diabetes is to make sure the levels or amount of sugar in your blood are near the normal range. This will make you feel better and help you stay healthy.

Your doctor will tell you how often to check your blood sugar level. To do this, you will need to take a drop of your blood and place it on a special test strip. Then a device, called a blood glucose meter, reads the strip. This device measures the amount of sugar in your blood.

Writing down this level, along with the time and date, will help you see how well your treatment plan is working.

Remember:
A person’s blood sugar level rises after eating any meal that contains carbohydrates or protein. Table sugar (also called ?sucrose) counts as a carbohydrate. Artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin, aspartame (NutraSweet), and sucralose (Splenda), do not count as carbohydrates or fats. They make food taste sweet. But they do not raise blood sugar levels and have little or no calories.

What Else Can You Do?
Eat well-balanced meals. The right amount of healthy food will keep your weight under control and help manage your diabetes.

Your body needs food from the four main food groups every day:

Fruits and vegetables (oranges, apples, bananas, carrots, and spinach)
Whole grains, cereals, and bread (wheat, rice, oats, bran, and barley)
Dairy products (milk, cheese, and yogurt)
Meats, fish, poultry, eggs, dried beans, and nuts.
Remember:
Too much fat and cholesterol in your diet can be very harmful to people with diabetes. Food that is high in fat includes red meat, dairy products (whole milk, cream, cheese, and ice cream), egg yolks, butter, salad dressings, vegetable oils, and many desserts.

Can You Do Anything Else?
Exercise is important for good diabetes control. It usually lowers blood sugar and may help insulin work better. Exercise and a healthy diet can also help you take off extra pounds if you are overweight.

Warning:
Check with your doctor before starting any exercise program. You may need a snack before or during the activity to avoid having low blood sugar while you exercise.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Hi...OK I'll try answering this but I'm not a doctor. I have Type 1 Diabetes though. It seems like in general, Type 1 Diabetes is managed using insulin (via insulin shots or an insulin pump), and Type 2 Diabetes is often managed using a combination of pills, diet, and exercise. There are Type 2 Diabetics who do take insulin shots too, though. Type 1 Diabetes means your pancreas makes no insulin anymore at all. Type 2 Diabetes can mean your pancreas does make some insulin, but not enough. So the pills that Type 2s are prescribed help the pancreas to make more insulin (I think).
I think that Type 1 Diabetes is often autoimmune (like Lupus) and its onset is not caused by being overweight or other medical conditions, whereas Type 2 Diabetes is usually seen as secondary to and/or caused by obesity and other medical conditions.
The symptoms you describe you are having could possibly be from high blood-sugar: excessive thirst, excessive urination, etc. Your friend's symptoms are, as you mentioned, from low blood-sugar, and low blood-sugar is caused by a person (Type 1 or Type 2) taking too much insulin and then their blood-sugar drops and those symptoms happen (weak, dizzy, woozy "drunk" seeming, etc.). But if you are not on insulin and you don't take any medication to control your blood-sugar, then it's unlikely you'd have low blood-sugar like your friend's. Hypoglycemia (or Low Blood-Sugar) is also something that totally non-diabetic people can have sometimes. But it sounds like what you are describing is possible high blood-sugar, and I'd recommend you go to a doctor and get blood work done to determine if you have diabetes.
Good luck!
PS: Just read through some of the previous answers---many of them have incorrect information. I was 23 when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. There are people diagnosed with Type 1 even into their late 20s. You do not have to be born with it to be considered Type 1, nor would I say that it is definitely a genetic deficiency. I am the 1st person on either side of my family to develop Type 1 Diabetes.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Type 1 diabetes is inherited and usually onsets during childhood. In Type 1 Diabetes, your body stops producing insulin, which is needed to break down sugar in the blood. Type 1 diabetics have to inject insulin for the rest of their lives. Type 2 Diabetes is also known as Adult Onset diabetes. This happens when your body is creating insulin, but it is not using it effectively, and so there is still too much sugar in the blood. Type 2 diabetes is often associated with being overweight, but you can have a pre-disposition to it genetically. Type 2 diabetes for some can be managed through diet and exercise, (losing some weight) and medication to help boost your insulin's effectiveness. Many Type 2 Diabetics eventually need insulin injections as well. You might say Type 1 has it worse, since it can only be managed through insulin injections.

Answer 6

Type 1 is generally called "juvenile onset" because it usually starts during childhood. Sometimes it's called "insulin dependent," but this is a misnomer because a lot of Type 2 diabetics are insulin dependent, too.

Type 2 is "adult onset" and is closely related to weight and other poor health issues.

It's easy enough to test for diabetes: If you have a nurse where you work or go to school, ask to have your blood sugar tested, two or more hours after you've eaten. A "normal" blood sugar reading will be 70-110 or so. If you are higher or lower than that, you might want to make an appointment with a doctor to do further tests.

Answer 7

I understand where the confusion comes in. I am not a doctor- but i was diagnosed with pre-diabetes a few years ago. It took me awhile to remember which was which and the symptoms of each.
Type 1 is when you are insulin dependent- meaning your body doesn't produce- or doesn't produce enough insulin and your sugar levels drop very low. This would be the type your friend has. It would exhibit the symptoms of appearing drunk etc.
Type 2 is the type you are showing symptoms of (and what I was diagnosed as having). In this case you are insulin resistant and your body produces too much insulin which in a round about way makes your sugar levels rise. With this you would have extreme thirst which would then cause you to urinate frequently. (When your sugar levels get to high your body will try other ways of getting rid of it- ie through your urine.)

I you feel better, and I hope this helps!

Answer 8

OK a lot of the answers above me are WRONG! Here it is in layman's terms.

Type 1- Their bodies do not make insulin. They have to take insulin to survive. They can do this through injections or an insulin pump. A lot of time this is diagnosed in childhood but adults can also get this type.

Type 2- Their bodies still make insulin but the body does not use it effectively. Type 2 diabetics can sometimes be controlled by diet and exercise alone, some need oral medication and some also need insulin injections. This usually is diagnosed in adults, but recently children have also been receiving this diagnosis.

Answer 9

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Believe it or not, I even danced at my niece's wedding last month, something I have not done in a many years. I've been following the book for six months now and my blood sugar is well within normal range. I feel great!

I recommend you use the Type 2 Diabetes Destroyer to naturally reverse your diabetes.

Answer 10

Type 1 -- which used to be called juvenile diabetes is a condition you're born with. It's usually diagnosed when the child is quite young.

Type 2 -- which used to be called adult-onset is an acquired disease. It's often linked to people who are overweight, get little exercise, and eat poorly. Increasingly, children and teenagers are developing type 2 diabetes.

There is no real distinction in symptoms. Type 1 diabetes nearly always requires insulin, but type 2 often does.

Diabetes can be diagnosed through a fasting blood test.

If you want to kind of pre-check yourself, you can buy urine dip sticks at the drugstore. You urinate on the stick, it changes color, you match the color with the chart on the bottle, and it tells you if your glucose (sugar) level is low, normal or high.
Since there will be many dip sticks in a package, you can test yourself at different times of the day.
If you are consistently low or normal, you're fine.
If you have occasional high readings, then you should see your doctor for more accurate testing.

Answer 11

Type 1 is insulin dependent and usually manifests in childhood.

Type 2 is NOT insulin dependent and normally manifests in adulthood. It is also known as adult-onset diabtetes. However, because of the bad diets of many Americans, some teens and even children are exhibiting signs of Type 2 . In Type 2, your body doesn't process insulin properly. I think it's called insulin resistance.

If you are overweight, you are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. If you have a family history, you are more likely to develop Type2 (actually, that's true for many, many diseases. Because your mom died of stroke, you are at greater risk of stroke or heart attack).

I have also read of pre-diabetes, meaning, you're at risk for developing the illness. Folks with borderline high blood sugar are considered prediabetic.

I am NOT a doctor, but you should see one no matter how much you hate it. S/he will run some tests to determine the cause of your symptoms. If you're only prediabetic, s/he may be able to give you guidance to avoid your condition worsening. This is NOTHING to mess around with.