Contents:

• Executive summary
• What is diabetes?
• Type 1 diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes
• Gestational diabetes
• Metabolic syndrome
• Pre-diabetes
• Common health complications
• Why do people become diabetic?
• Genetics
• Lifestyle and environmental factors
• Life with diabetes
• Classical approach to treatment
• Medication
• Type 1 diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes
• Diet
• How well does it work?
• The D-Diet
• Basic principles of the D-Diet
• Why and how it works
• The D-Diet nutrition basics
• Conclusion
• References

Type 2 diabetes

In type 2 diabetes, the body can still make some, but not enough, insulin or it fails to react to insulin as it should (insulin resistance). Again glucose builds up in the blood. This condition accounts for approximately 90 per cent of all cases (85 per cent of adults). (Diabetes UK, 2010b).

Type 2 diabetes usually develops in people over the age of 40, although South Asian and Afro-Caribbean populations are at greater risk and tend to become diabetic relatively early in life – at around the age of 25 (Diabetes UK, 2010b). However, type 2 diabetes is rapidly becoming more common in children, adolescents and young people of all ethnicities. It is
predominantly ascribed to the increase in childhood obesity (NHS, 2008).