Type 2 diabetes affects nearly 21 million people in the United States, making it the most common form of diabetes. While it was once called “adult onset diabetes,” we now know that children and teenagers can develop it too. Many of the symptoms of diabetes may seem harmless at first. In fact, you can have type 2 diabetes for years without knowing it. Symptoms of high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) include increased thirst and frequent urination, extreme hunger, fatigue, and blurred vision. Other problems may occur from having high blood sugar over an extended period of time, including frequent infections that are slow to heal or tingling and numbness in your hands or feet. By detecting diabetes early, you increase your chances of staying healthy and having fewer symptoms. People with type 2 diabetes either do not produce enough insulin, or the cells in their body may not respond properly to the insulin they produce (insulin resistance).

Why these things happen is not fully known. Researchers have shown that type 2 diabetes is more common in people who are overweight, have high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. But many people with these conditions do not get diabetes, and many people who develop type 2 diabetes have normal body weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. There are a number of factors that increase your risk for type 2 diabetes. These include family history, race, weight, inactivity, age, prediabetes (a condition in which your blood sugar is higher than normal), and gestational diabetes (diabetes that developed when you were pregnant).

Doctors use blood tests to screen for diabetes. Usually, your doctor will ask you to avoid eating before he or she takes a blood sample. The sample will be sent to a laboratory, where your glucose (sugar) levels will be measured. Some doctors can perform this test in their office with a glucose meter. The American Diabetes Association recommends that you start testing for type 2 diabetes when you turn 45 – especially if you are overweight.

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