Did you know?
Diabetes currently affects 30.3 million patients in the United States, but many of those cases are undiagnosed. Proper diabetes care and management is vital for overall health, so it’s important to have a skilled family medicine physician like Dr. Tagbo J. Ekwonu at Eastowne Family Physicians, PA. Patients from the NoDa, Eastway, Plaza Midwood, and other parts of Charlotte, North Carolina can get the diagnosis, care, and support they need from Dr. Ekwonu. To schedule your visit, call the office, or use our convenient online booking tool.
How are type 1 and type 2 diabetes different?
Type 1 diabetes is much less common than type 2 diabetes. In fact, type 2 diabetes accounts for 95 percent of all diagnosed diabetes cases. In type 1 diabetes, the body is unable to produce insulin. This means glucose can’t be processed, and that the missing insulin must be replaced via either injections or an insulin pump. Type 1 diabetes is almost always diagnosed in children, and it isn’t preventable. Type 2 diabetes, however, is usually preventable.
Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed in adulthood. If you suffer from type 2 diabetes, you do produce insulin, but your body doesn’t use the insulin properly — a condition called insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes is often connected to controllable factors like weight and diet. In many cases, type 2 diabetes can be managed with proper diet and exercise. However, some type 2 diabetes patients do need to take medication to control their diabetes.
How is diabetes treated?
Whether you’ve newly discovered that you’re pre-diabetic or you’ve been dealing with type 1 diabetes for your whole life, there are effective treatments available.
Dr. Ekwonu helps type 1 diabetes patients to keep their diabetes tightly controlled through the proper dose of daily insulin. Type 1 diabetes patients also need to live a healthy lifestyle, watch their weight, and maintain a regular exercise routine. Type 1 diabetes patients need to monitor their blood sugar to keep their diabetes properly controlled.
The treatment for type 2 diabetics usually starts with lifestyle. Dr. Ekwonu will help patients with a healthy diet and exercise plan that will allow them to be as healthy as possible. This may be enough to control the diabetes in some cases. However, some type 2 patients do need to take daily medication such as Metformin. This type of medication can help reduce glucose production, which, in turn, lowers blood sugar. Type 2 diabetics also need to monitor their blood sugar regularly.
What happens if diabetes is not treated?
Untreated diabetes can lead to serious health problems or even death. If your diabetes isn’t tightly controlled, you could potentially suffer from problems like diabetic ketoacidosis or eventually, heart disease. The good news is that diabetes is easily managed today with the help of Dr. Ekwonu.
Contact Eastowne Family Physicians, PA to make an appointment with Dr. Ekwonu via phone or through the online appointment tool anytime.
