A Changeable Disease
Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease, which means that it can get worse over time. That's why most patients eventually need medicines, usually more than one, and sometimes insulin. Even when treatment controls your blood sugar, you need to stick with it, or your blood sugar will get too high again.
If your doctor changes your treatment to keep your blood sugar under control, this doesn’t mean that you’ve failed! Your body changes over time, and so can your response to type 2 diabetes treatment.
By checking your blood sugar yourself and getting regular A1C tests, you and your doctor can see how well your treatment is controlling your blood sugar. If your response to treatment changes, your doctor can make adjustments as needed. That’s important, because you don’t want to subject your body to high blood sugar, which can cause damage.
Part of what makes type 2 diabetes such a serious disease is that it can affect many different areas of the body, from the heart and brain to nerves, eyes and skin. By caring for your body, including seeing your doctor regularly and getting the health tests that he or she recommends, you can help reduce your risk for health complications.
