Medical Dictionary: Stable Diabetes

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Stable Diabetes: Another name for Type 2 diabetes.
Stable Diabetes (condition): Most common diabetes in adults, usually progressing slowly, mostly treated without insulin at diagnosis.
Stable Diabetes (condition): Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes, typically affecting over-40's adults, whereas Type 1 diabetes is the insulin-requiring juvenile form. In many cases, when people say "diabetes", it refers to Type 2 diabetes. Although insulin may be needed in later stages, it is usually treated by diet-only or by diabetes medications in the early years after diagnosis.

Because Type 2 diabetes starts out with only mild symptoms, it is one of the most common under-diagnosed diseases, with millions of Americans unaware that they have it (or the earlier phase called IGT). This is unfortunate, because diabetes causes significant damage to the body and leads to various complications, even in the period prior to diagnosis.

Diagnosis must separate diabetes from other causes of mild symptoms, but this is easily done using the tests for diabetes. Type 2 diabetes must be distinguished from other types of diabetes including Type 1 diabetes, MODY, and IGT. In some cases, an underlying condition such as metabolic syndrome, hemochromatosis or cystic fibrosis may be the actual base illness.

Stable Diabetes: The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. About 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2, and one-third of them have not been diagnosed. This form of diabetes usually develops in adults age 40 and older and is most common in adults over age 55. About 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Type 2 diabetes is often part of a metabolic syndrome that includes obesity, elevated blood pressure, and high levels of blood lipids. Unfortunately, as more children become overweight, type 2 diabetes is becoming more common in young people. ¹

More information on medical condition: Type 2 diabetes:

Footnotes:
1. excerpt from Diabetes Overview: NIDDK

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