### Understanding Diabetes Progression and Staying Healthy Even if your diabetes has been well controlled for years, it can still worsen over time. This means you may need to adjust your treatment plan more than once. The key to understanding diabetes progression is knowing the role of your pancreas, which produces insulin. Insulin is a hormone needed to move glucose (blood sugar) into cells for energy. If your body doesn’t produce enough insulin or your cells don’t respond well to insulin, glucose can build up in your bloodstream. With type 1 diabetes, the pancreas does not make any insulin, so it must be given via injection. In type 2 diabetes, your cells don’t respond normally to insulin, causing your pancreas to produce more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Over time, this can damage the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, eventually leading to a rise in blood sugar and type 2 diabetes. High blood sugar can increase your risk of complications like vision loss, heart disease, nerve damage, kidney disease, and foot or leg amputation. Proper diabetes management can help prevent or delay these complications. This includes eating a balanced diet, getting regular exercise, and taking medication as prescribed. ### Changes to Expect with Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 diabetes is progressive, meaning it can get worse over time. Your medications, diet, and exercise goals may need adjustments. Initially, the pancreas produces extra insulin to make up for insulin resistance, but eventually, it cannot keep up. After a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, your doctor will set blood sugar goals, recommend lifestyle changes, and perhaps prescribe medications. If initial strategies aren’t working, your prescription may need to be changed or insulin added. ### Tailoring Your Diabetes Management Plan as You Age As you age, you may experience complications from diabetes or develop unrelated conditions that make exercise challenging. These changes necessitate adjustments to your diabetes management plan. A Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) can help you adjust your diet, exercise, and medication management plan. ### Strategies for Managing Diabetes - Consider continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices for real-time blood sugar readings. - Use the “time in range” metric to assess blood sugar control. - Regularly check in with your doctor and CDCES. Living with diabetes can be challenging, but daily care and regular medical check-ups can help you manage the condition.