People with type 2 diabetes write back to their younger selves, to share personal insights and reflect on their experience of living with diabetes and starting on insulin therapy. In this post, Hussain reflects on living with diabetes.

When a family member or friend is diagnosed with diabetes, a three-worded phrase quickly becomes part of everyday conversation: that is, ‘blood sugar levels’ – or ‘blood glucose levels’.

While having family members with diabetes will increase your chances of getting the disease yourself, environmental factors also play a key part in causing diabetes.

When you have diabetes you also have a higher risk for heart disease. In fact, you’re two to four times more likely to have a stroke or die of heart-related issues compared to someone without diabetes. While it’s certainly not fair, take comfort in knowing you can make changes to your diet to improve the diabetes heart.

The genetics of diabetes – as well as other hereditary components of the disease – are important for you to know. We’ll address the genes involved in type 1 and type 2 diabetes in this article.

One of the more common complications of diabetes is retinopathy.