In the medical practice of the modern world, diabetes mellitus belongs to the group of diseases worldwide, because it has a high prevalence, severe complications, and also requires substantial financial costs for treatment, which the patient will need throughout their lives.
There are several specific forms of sugar disease, but the most well-known and common are diabetes mellitus of the first and second type. Both diseases can not be cured, and they need to be controlled throughout their lives.
Many patients with type 2 diabetes are wondering if type 2 diabetes can become type 1 diabetes?
To answer this question, it is necessary to consider the mechanism of development of each form of pathology, to study their distinctive characteristics, and upon completion to make a reasonable conclusion.
Principle of glucose uptake
Modern scientific activity comprehensively studied the mechanisms of diabetes. It would seem that the disease is the same, and differs exclusively by type. But in reality, they evolve completely differently.
As mentioned above, the first and second types of diabetes are most common, which differ in the mechanism of development, the causes, the dynamics of the course, the clinical picture, and the treatment tactics, respectively.
To understand how the mechanisms of development of diseases differ, it is necessary to understand the principle of sugar assimilation at the cellular level:
- Glucose is the energy that enters the human body along with food. After it appears in cells, its splitting is observed, oxidizing processes are carried out, utilization occurs in soft tissues.
- To "pass" through the cell membrane, glucose needs a conductor.
- And in this case, the hormone insulin, which is produced by the pancreas, acts. In particular, it is synthesized by beta pancreatic cells.
After insulin enters the blood, and its content is maintained at a certain level. And when food arrives, the sugar is digested, then enters the circulatory system. Its main task is to provide the body with energy for the full functioning of all internal organs and systems.
Glucose cannot penetrate through the cell wall on its own due to its structural features, since the molecule is heavy.
In turn, it is insulin that makes the membrane permeable, as a result of which glucose freely penetrates through it.
Type 1 diabetes
Based on the above information, it is possible to make a completely logical conclusion that with a shortage of the hormone, the cell remains “hungry,” which in turn leads to the development of a sweet disease.
The first type of diabetes is hormone dependent, and insulin concentrations can decrease dramatically under the influence of negative factors.
In the first place is a genetic predisposition. Scientists have quite precisely established that a certain chain of genes that can “wake up” under the influence of destructive circumstances can be transmitted to a person, which leads to the occurrence of the disease.
Diabetes mellitus can develop under the influence of such factors:
- Violation of the functionality of the pancreas, tumor formation of the internal organ, its injury.
- Viral infections, autoimmune diseases.
- Toxic effects on the body.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, not one factor leads to the development of an illness, but several factors simultaneously. The first type of pathology is directly dependent on the production of the hormone, so it is called insulin-dependent.
Most often, diabetes is diagnosed in children or young age. When a disease is detected, the patient is immediately given insulin. Dosage and frequency of use are recommended individually.
The introduction of insulin improves the patient's well-being, and allows the human body to carry out all the necessary metabolic processes fully. However, there are certain nuances:
- Control body sugar every day.
- Careful calculation of the hormone dosage.
- Frequent administration of insulin leads to an atrophic change in muscle tissue at the injection site.
- Against the background of diabetes, patients have a reduced immune system, and therefore the likelihood of infectious pathologies increases.
The problem of this type of disease is that most often children and adolescents suffer from it. They have impaired visual perception, hormonal disruptions are observed, which in turn can lead to a delay in puberty.
The constant introduction of the hormone is a vital necessity, which improves health, but on the other hand, significantly limits the freedom of action.
Type 2 diabetes
The second type of diabetes has a completely different mechanism of development. If in the first type the pathology is based on the external influence and physical conditioning of the insufficiency of the insular apparatus, then the second type is significantly different.
As a rule, this type of diabetes is characterized by slow progression, therefore it is most often diagnosed in people after 35 years of age. Predisposing factors are: obesity, stress, unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is insulin-independent diabetes, which is characterized by a hyperglycemic state, which is a consequence of the insulin production disorder. High concentration of glucose occurs due to a combination of certain failures in the human body.
- In contrast to the first type of diabetes, with this form of pathology, the hormone in the body is sufficient, but the susceptibility of cells to its effect decreases.
- As a result, glucose cannot get into the cells, which leads to their "hunger", but the sugar does not disappear anywhere, it accumulates in the blood, which leads to a hypoglycemic state.
- In addition, the functionality of the pancreas is impaired, it begins to synthesize more hormone to compensate for low cellular susceptibility.
As a rule, at this stage, the doctor recommends that you radically review your diet, prescribes a wellness diet, a certain mode of the day. Sports are appointed that help increase the sensitivity of cells to the hormone.
With the ineffectiveness of such treatment, the next step is the appointment of tablets to reduce blood sugar. First, one remedy is prescribed, after which they may recommend a combination of several drugs from different groups.
With prolonged diabetes and excessive pancreatic functionality, which is associated with the production of a large amount of insulin, exhaustion of the internal organ is not excluded, as a result of which there is a marked lack of hormones.
In this case, the only way out is to introduce insulin. That is, the treatment tactics are chosen, as in the first type of diabetes.
Along with this, many patients think that one type of diabetes has passed into another. In particular, the transformation of the 2nd type into the 1st type was carried out. But it is not.
Can type 2 diabetes go to type 1?
So, can still type 2 diabetes go to the first type? Medical practice shows that this is not possible. Unfortunately, this does not make patients feel any better.
If the pancreas loses its functionality due to constant excessive load, the second type of disease becomes uncompensated. If you say in other words, it is not enough that the soft tissues have lost sensitivity to the hormone, and the insulin itself is not enough in the body.
In this regard, it turns out that the only option for maintaining the patient’s life is injections with hormone. As practice shows, only in exceptional cases they can act as a temporary measure.
In the overwhelming majority of clinical pictures, if already in the second type of the disease insulin administration was prescribed, the patient has to be injected throughout his life.
Sugar disease of the first type is characterized by absolute hormone deficiency in the human body. That is, pancreatic cells simply do not produce insulin. In this case, insulin shots are necessary for health reasons.
But in the second type of disease, relative insulin deficiency is observed, that is, insulin is sufficient, but the cells do not perceive it. Which in turn leads to an increase in glucose concentration in the body.
Thus, we can conclude that the second type of diabetes can not go into the first type of disease.
Despite similar names, pathologies differ in the mechanisms of development, the dynamics of the course, and the tactics of therapy.
The first type of diabetes occurs because pancreatic cells “attack” their own immune system, resulting in a decrease in insulin production, which in turn leads to an increase in the sugar content in the body.
The second type develops much slower when compared with type 1 diabetes. Cell receptors lose their former insulin sensitivity gradually, and this circumstance leads to the accumulation of sugar in the blood.
Despite the fact that the exact cause that leads to the development of these diseases has not yet been established, scientists have narrowed down the range of factors leading to the occurrence of these pathologies.
Distinctive characteristics depending on the cause:
- It is believed that the main factors that accompany the development of the second type are obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and unhealthy diet. And with type 1, autoimmune destruction of pancreatic cells causes pathology, and this may be due to viral infection (rubella).
- In the first type of diabetes, a hereditary factor is possible. It is believed that in the vast majority of cases, children inherit factors from both parents. In turn, type 2 has a stronger causal relationship with family history.
Despite some distinctive features, these diseases have a common consequence - the development of serious complications.
At the moment, there is no way to completely cure the first type of diabetes. However, scientists are considering the potential benefits of a combination of immunosuppressants and drugs that provide an increase in gastrin, which in turn leads to the restoration of pancreatic functionality.
If this innovative way to translate into "life", then it would allow diabetics to give up insulin forever.
As for the second type, there is also no way to cure the patient forever. Compliance with all recommendations of the doctor, adequate therapy helps to compensate for the disease, but not cure.
Based on all the above, we can conclude that one type of diabetes cannot take another form. But this fact does not change anything, since SD1 and SD2 are fraught with complications, and these pathologies must be controlled until the end of life. What are the different types of diabetes - in the video in this article.