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Can I live 50 years with type 2?

M

mralphabet

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Hi everyone,
I'm 21 years old. I was diagnosed with type 2 last year. At that time, my HbA1c was 12.6. After using diabetes tablets, my A1c was reduced to 5.5, 4.3 and now 5.7. Now I'm using Duotrol (Metfomin 500mg + Glibenclamid 5mg). I've read stories of many people who live 50 years with type 1 but nobody like that with type 2. The current longest I know is Halle Berry (23 years) so I'm very confused. Can I live long with type 2 without complications if I control my BG well. When will I need to use insulin?
 
The reason for the lack of stories from long-term type 2 patients is presumably that, until quite recently, diabetes type 2 was unheard of in young people - it was either not diagnosed, misdiagnosed as type 1, or they might be genuine new cases due to the "diabetes epidemic". The lack of success stories certainly doesn't mean that it's impossible.
As for your question - well, maybe? Good control of your diabetes minimises the risk of complications, but (as I understand it) it will still be higher than the healthy population baseline. No one can say for certain if you will get complications.
As for when you will need insulin, it would seem that most type 2 patients will need insulin eventually; you will need insulin if or when other medication stops working.
 
AMBrennan said:
Good control of your diabetes minimises the risk of complications, but (as I understand it) it will still be higher than the healthy population baseline. No one can say for certain if you will get complications.
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That's interesting AMBrennan, do you have any large scale randomized trials that demonstrate the incidence of complications of people with well controlled T2 diabetes (ie HbA1c <= 5.6%). Or have we lost our faith in evidence based medicine already?

AMBrennan said:
As for when you will need insulin, it would seem that most type 2 patients will need insulin eventually; you will need insulin if or when other medication stops working.
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Ditto.
 
mralphabet said:
Hi everyone,
I'm 21 years old. I was diagnosed with type 2 last year. At that time, my HbA1c was 12.6. After using diabetes tablets, my A1c was reduced to 5.5, 4.3 and now 5.7. Now I'm using Duotrol (Metfomin 500mg + Glibenclamid 5mg). I've read stories of many people who live 50 years with type 1 but nobody like that with type 2. The current longest I know is Halle Berry (23 years) so I'm very confused. Can I live long with type 2 without complications if I control my BG well. When will I need to use insulin?
Click to expand...

mralphabet,

Well done on your excellent control.

I think the truth is that no-one knows, but if you keep your BG to near non-diabetic numbers then you'll probably maximise your chances of avoiding complications. What else can you do?

I guess a lot depends on how much damage you've done before you were diagnosed.
 
. Can I live long with type 2 without complications if I control my BG well.

Yes :thumbup:
 
Sorry, but I'd rather not derail this thread by another lengthy argument. Re-post this somewhere where I can respond if you want a debate and not just a cheap shot at someone you disagree with.
 
AMBrennan said:
Sorry, but I'd rather not derail this thread by another lengthy argument. Re-post this somewhere where I can respond if you want a debate and not just a cheap shot at someone you disagree with.
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Was that a response to me or Borofergie?
 
AMBrennan said:
Sorry, but I'd rather not derail this thread by another lengthy argument. Re-post this somewhere where I can respond if you want a debate and not just a cheap shot at someone you disagree with.
Click to expand...

The topic of this thread is "Can I live 50 years with type 2?"

It wasn't a cheap shot. It's very much on topic, and it is great interest of those of us who are T2s with good control (especially in the light of WJ's complications this week).

I'm sure that mralphabet is interestd in the science behind your opinion too...
 
Ok evidence based to start with, I don't know how else we can really evaluate .
As far as I know , there are no trials that will show the long term effects of people diagnosed with diabetes keeping levels below 5.6% There are trials demonstrating that for people with both T2 and T1 diabetes it is beneficial to keep levels below 7%. There are also studies that show that driving these levels down with some drugs might not be beneficial (I quoted,linked but then cut the studies, I have them if anyone wants)

Fifty years though is the question and I think we really don't know.
The definitions of what is and isn't diabetes has changed since then. It isn't so long ago that diabetes wasn't diagnosed until fasting levels reached 140mg/dl (7.7mmol/l)
Fifty years ago T2 diabetes was only recently defined, it was called maturity onset diabetes, no-one would have thought to test for it in a young person. It wasn't diagnosed until symptoms appeared ie weight loss, kidney problems or neuropathy, by that time the person had severe beta cell loss. I also think there were probably people who had T2 and were, because they were young , diagnosed as T1. They would have been put onto insulin which would have worked.
There are most definitely people who were diagnosed with T1 fifty years ago and have now been found to have MODY (miss named because they didn't understand it). Some have later been rediagnosed and sucessfully transferred from insulin to oral medications. I also (and beware anecdote) know of a man on one forum diagnosed in the 1970s as a T2, put straight onto insulin with a daughter diagnosed not long later as T1. He still considers himself to be T2, both are doing well.
Lastly, and again anecdote , I have read on forums of several people diagnosed in their fifties and living until they were approaching 100.
My conclusion is that, as with T1 and MODY, we all face similar problems caused by high glucose levels, all we can do is be positive about our futures. I know I am.
There is a book concerning this 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes by Sheri Colberg(she has T1 but researches exercise in T2) I haven't read it but have heard it praised by people with oth T1 and T2.
 
mralphabet -welcome to the forum.
Just to quickly answer your question, not research but personal experience, I know of 2 people in my town who were diagnosed as type 2 in their 40s and are now in their 80s, both in pretty good shape actually. The funny thing is that both of them have always stuck to a reduced carb diet without having been told to.
One of them said that she cut out sugar anyway, but that she found that when she ate other carby foods she would feel tired and run down so it was a matter of listening to what her body was telling her.
Dont worry about how long you will live, you have excellent control, keep it that way and you will minimise risks of developing complications. If you are unlucky to fall ill despite good control then at least your body is in good shape to fight back and be healthy again.

Good luck and all the best, enjoy life to the full, leave the rest to fate.
 
Mralphabet, Hi! Leaving the science aside, let's just look logically. You said yourself that there's evidence of type 1s living 50 years or more. So why should type 2s be any worse? We face the same issue - keeping our BGs under control. It's just that with us, our own body still does some of the control as our Pancreases still function a bit. Ultimately, we may have to go on to Insulin, but even then we're no worse off than the type 1 was to start with. If a type 1 can live to be 100, why shouldn't we? To me, it's all about attitude and control. I'm 62 in February, my HbA1c is almost non-diabetic, I'm on diet only, and I plan to live as long as the non-diabetic neighbour of my age that I play golf with. Probably longer, because my weight and exercise mean I'm fitter than him now (other than that little thing called diabetes!)
Good luck!
 
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