if you dont treat diabetes will you die?

Question

just wondering

Answer 1

yes you can........................

Answer 2

Hi Jared,

Yes, you most certainly will die if you don't treat Diabetes.

If you have Type 1 Diabetes, your body does not produce any insulin, so you have no way of breaking down the glucose in your body. You would die pretty quickly without treatment.

If you have Type 2 Diabetes, your body does produce insulin, at least some, but your cells are not allowing the insulin to do its job.

There are some Type 2 people who are able to control their Diabetes with diet & exercise alone, but they are in the minority. Without some form of treatment, severe complications will develop, eventually leading to death.

So many people don't realize this but it is not that long ago that there were no such things as glucose meters, etc. & even insulin is not that old.

They used to call Diabetes 'the Starving Disease," because the only way people knew how to fight it was by literally starving themselves. This was still happening in the 1920's - 30's (that's not that long ago, medically speaking). Even as close as the 1940's to 1950's, Diabetes was pretty much a death sentence for children.

I watched a film about the history of Diabetes & it really scared me. I'm so glad I was born & living in this era instead of when my grandparents did.

Glucose meters didn't even come into existence until the 1980's!!! Before that, people had to check their urine, so they never knew what number it was; they just had an idea of the range it was in.

Even though insulin was invented in the late 1920's, it was hard to get. There were so many people who had Diabetes, and manufacturing was nothing like it is now.

There used to be dog catchers who were paid to catch dogs for research; scientists were so desperate to find some way to help people.

I just listened to a radio show about Diabetes, just an hour ago. The doctors said that people with Diabetes, on average, will die 10 - 15 years earlier than the general population. These are people who are being treated.

I hope this has been helpful.

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

For Type 1 diabetes, coma and death can come quickly (within hours to days without insulin) if no insulin is given. People (often children) HAVE died from undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes and/or missed insulin over a fairly short period of time. This results in a dangerous rapidly fatal if untreated condition called "DKA". Type 1 diabetics can also die if they have too MUCH insulin given, by way of hypoglycemic coma or seizure.

Type 1 diabetics can also die from "long-term" or improperly treated diabetes. While they don't die immediately from severely high or low blood sugars, they can develop serious damage to their organs from prolonged higher than normal blood sugar. That said, it is impossible to keep blood sugars normal all of the time in a Type 1 diabetic and there are other factors to diabetes complications. Managing your diabetes well will help *reduce the risk* of long-term problems, but it is not a 100% guarantee that they will not happen. The best a person can do is to do their best. And it is very important to try. But no one should expect perfection from a person expected to be their pancreas.

When it comes to Type 2 diabetes causing death, it generally is a slow process. Hypersomolar coma, which happens in some people with long-term untreated Type 2 diabetes, can be fatal if untreated. Most people with Type 2 diabetes never reach this point, though. People with Type 2 diabetes may have it for years and not know it, all the while damaging their heart, kidneys, nerves, etc. Often Type 2 diabetes is first diagnosed when a person arrives at the hospital with a heart attack. By this point, serious damage is done. Type 2 diabetes can usually be controlled well with weight loss, diet, exercise, and medications and/or insulin if needed. A good portion (but certainly not all) of those with Type 2 diabetes can remain medication free if they lose weight, follow a strict diet, and get regular exercise. Always work with your doctor for treatment and never stop any medications without your doctor's OK.

So yes, diabetes can be rapidly fatal (generally Type 1), or slowly kill someone (Type 1 and Type 2). Taking care of your diabetes as best you can should be top priority if you want to live a long, healthy, life.

Answer 5

high blood sugars wreak havoc on the body. The high blood sugar damages all the main organs. If a person has type 1 diabetes, and does not produce any insulin on their own, they will die if they do not take insulin.

If a person is a type 2 diabetic, the high blood sugars will slowly cause the body to fail over a long period of time. The damage done to the heart and veins can cause heart attacks or strokes. The high blood sugars destroy the veins in the eyes causing blindness. The high blood sugar also impairs the body's ability to fight off infection. The high blood sugar causes neuropathies (it damages the nerves) in the extremities (legs, feet, hands) This causes loss of feeling in the limbs which can be dangerous... a person wouldn't even know if they had a terrible cut on their foot which could get infected and lead to amputation.

So, all in all, if you don't treat diabetes, you will either quickly die if you have type 1 diabetes, or if you have type 2 diabetes, you will eventually die due to the complications that diabetes creates in your body.

Answer 6

Yes. But if it is type 2 diabetes, you can 'treat' it without taking medications. Weight loss and exercise + reduction in carbohydrate intake overall is the cure to type 2 diabetes. I've seen it happen. On the other hand I also saw someone who was cured of type 2, got depressed and started eating and getting fat again who ended up worse off than ever, on insulin and everything. Type 1 is a whole different ball of wax and I don't think someone could survive too long with no medical treatment. Death by diabetes is a terrible thing.

Answer 7

I'm a type two diabetic. If I don't take care of myself, I will begin to experience all kinds of problems on my way to a slow, miserable death. Like, blindness, kidney failure, infection and amputation, nerve damage, heart failure, stroke, and the list goes on. It's not the diabetes by itself that kills, it's the complications due to sustained high blood sugar.

Type one diabetes is a whole different story. Without treatment, a type one would die very quickly. Probably in a day or so.

Answer 8

Yes, diabetes can kill. There are many other things that can happen. Lose of a limb, blurry vision or blind, coma and so much more.
If you know someone who does have diabetes try to help that person eat properly, light exercise 5 days a week and to check their sugar at least 2 times a day with their meter.
I hope this helps more than scares you.

Answer 9

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
if you dont treat diabetes will you die?
just wondering

Answer 10

Diabetes is usually treated through a combination of diet (low sugar), exercise and medications/insulin. Milder cases can be controlled with just diet an/or exercise while more severe cases require meds or insulin as well.
Learn more https://tr.im/CUmkm

Answer 11

Yes, that is a definant possiblity. If your body dosn''t produce insulin then it breaks down fats for enegy. It also attempts to get rid of high blood sugar by making you have to use the bathroom alot. If you do not manage it, then your bady is basically starving itself to death.