I am an Undergrad student and diagnosed with type 1 recently. There are no family history of diabetes and it came as a shock to me and my family. I am on insulin now. What are the complications and life expectancy?
Newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes
- Thread starter kumar.neeraj
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azure
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Hi @kumar.neeraj 
Type 1 diabetes is a shock, for sure. It took me months to get used to it. The best thing you can do is to learn as much as possible and to control your blood sugar.
I'm tagging @daisy1 as she has some basic information.
There is also information about complications here:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-complications/diabetes-complications.html
But you can reduce your risk of getting those by controlling your blood sugar. There are people who have lived with Type 1 for 50 or more years and who are still in good health
Type 1 diabetes is a shock, for sure. It took me months to get used to it. The best thing you can do is to learn as much as possible and to control your blood sugar.
I'm tagging @daisy1 as she has some basic information.
There is also information about complications here:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-complications/diabetes-complications.html
But you can reduce your risk of getting those by controlling your blood sugar. There are people who have lived with Type 1 for 50 or more years and who are still in good health
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Welcome to the forum @kumar.neeraj
Can imagine it came as quite a shock, many of us who were diagnosed with type 1 had no family history of the condition.
As @azure says you can help prevent the onset of complications by keeping on top of your diabetes, there's a good book that you should purchase called Think Like a Pancreas, it covers all the basics of managing type 1 and is a must read for a newbie like yourself.
As for life expectancy, not sure what it is at the moment but it's getting better all the time with the advance of skills & technology in managing the condition, there's members on this forum who have lived with type 1 for 50 & 60 years and I was reading an article not long ago where the person had just passed their 80th year living with type 1, so not to worry about this and focus on the here and now.
Best wishes and keep us informed on your progress.
Can imagine it came as quite a shock, many of us who were diagnosed with type 1 had no family history of the condition.
As @azure says you can help prevent the onset of complications by keeping on top of your diabetes, there's a good book that you should purchase called Think Like a Pancreas, it covers all the basics of managing type 1 and is a must read for a newbie like yourself.
As for life expectancy, not sure what it is at the moment but it's getting better all the time with the advance of skills & technology in managing the condition, there's members on this forum who have lived with type 1 for 50 & 60 years and I was reading an article not long ago where the person had just passed their 80th year living with type 1, so not to worry about this and focus on the here and now.
Best wishes and keep us informed on your progress.
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Hello @kumar.neeraj Welcome to the forum
Yes it is a shock, same here, no family history, but as it is an auto immune illness there doesn't need to be a hereditary link. Best advice has already been given by @azure which is learn as much as you can, knowledge is power in managing your type 1 status, there are lots of members on the site who are living complication free lives so it's possible. Feel free to ask questions we are all a friendly bunch
Yes it is a shock, same here, no family history, but as it is an auto immune illness there doesn't need to be a hereditary link. Best advice has already been given by @azure which is learn as much as you can, knowledge is power in managing your type 1 status, there are lots of members on the site who are living complication free lives so it's possible. Feel free to ask questions we are all a friendly bunch
daisy1
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@kumar.neeraj
Hello and welcome to the forum In addition to the excellent advice you have received above from other members, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find this helpful. Ask more questions when you need to and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 210,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.
Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hello and welcome to the forum
In addition to the excellent advice you have received above from other members, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find this helpful. Ask more questions when you need to and someone will be able to help.BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 210,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.
Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
