Diabetes

What Is Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have type 2 diabetes, your body can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood. Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition. It can lead to health issues such as heart attack; stroke; blindness; kidney failure; or loss of toes, feet, or legs.

How Bad Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a serious disease that strikes nearly 26 million children and adults in the United States, and a quarter of them—seven million—do not even know they have it. An additional 79 million, or one in three American adults, have prediabetes, which puts them at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, diagnosis often comes seven to 10 years after the onset of the disease, after disabling and even deadly complications have had time to develop. Therefore, early diagnosis is critical to successful treatment and delaying or preventing some of its complications such as heart disease, blindness, kidney disease, stroke, amputation and death.

Materials developed by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Disclaimer: Reference to specific commercial products, manufacturers, companies, or trademarks does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation by the U.S. Government, Department of Health and Human Services, or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.