Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by high blood glucose, which leads to obesity, obesity-related cancers like pancreatic cancer and colon cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Diabetes is becoming more common because of a worldwide increase in the number of people living with it. As a result, more people are getting this disease when they are younger and can have major health problems later on in addition to having a high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes itself.

In people with diabetes, high blood glucose can cause two problems — both of which can result in foot problems. You may have one or both of these:

• Nerve damage (neuropathy). Nerve damage from high blood glucose usually begins in the hands and feet. It can cause painful symptoms — tingling, aching, or throbbing — but it can also reduce sensation. If you can’t really feel cold, heat, or pain in your feet, it’s easy to ignore an injury or infection. And unfortunately, in people with diabetes, even a small blister or stubbed toe can become serious.
• Poor circulation. High blood glucose can damage your blood vessels and reduce blood flow to your feet. This means that injuries take longer to heal. Over time, poor circulation in your feet can even change the shape of your feet and toes. This can cause problems with the way you walk.

Causes

Type 2 is more likely to occur in people who

Are overweight

Are 45 or older

Are physically inactive

Have a parent or sibling with diabetes

Have abnormal cholesterol levels

Have had gestational diabetes

Have high blood pressure

Symptoms

Sometimes — but not always — symptoms are the first clue that a person has diabetes. These common symptoms may be caused by high blood glucose levels and may go away once blood glucose is controlled. Symptoms include:

• Fatigue. It makes sense that untreated diabetes makes you feel tired and weak. Your body is having trouble getting energy from glucose.
• Intense thirst and frequent urination. When you have high blood glucose, your body loses more fluid than normal. To replenish these fluids, you drink more and more. You urinate more as well.
• Unusual hunger. Many people report that they’re hungry all the time. That’s because even though they may have plenty of glucose in their bloodstream, their cells are starving for energy. In response, their bodies prompt them to eat more.
• Unexplained weight loss. Some people find that they’re losing weight, even though they may be eating and drinking more than usual. As glucose builds up in your blood, it spills into your urine. Glucose in your urine is a significant drain of calories.
• Numbness or tingling in your hands and feet. This is a result of nerve damage caused by high blood glucose. Unless the damage is severe, these sensations may slowly go away when your blood glucose returns to normal.
• Blurred vision. When your blood glucose is high for days in a row, the lenses of your eyes tend to swell. This makes it harder to focus and harder for you to see clearly.
• Frequent infections, or cuts and sores that are slow to heal. High blood glucose can increase your risk for infections for two reasons: – The bacteria and fungi that cause infection thrive in a high-glucose environment. (And if you’ve got untreated diabetes, your whole body is probably in a high-glucose environment.) – Your immune system — which is responsible for fighting infection — doesn’t work as well when you have high blood glucose.