What Are the Possible Complications for Type 2 Diabetes?

Lorena Alarcon-Casas Wright, M.D., director of the LatinX Diabetes Clinic at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, shares why it's so important to have your diabetes well-controlled.

Type 2 diabetes affects the blood vessels and the nerves in your body. We have blood vessels and nerves in our entire body, the ones that are affected the most are the smallest ones. Like the ones that feed our kidney, the retina, the back of our eyes, our feet, our heart, our brain.

Then some of the complications of Type 2 diabetes are kidney problems, that might eventually lead to kidney failure, cardiovascular problems, so heart problems or brain problems, such as stroke or heart attack. Because it affects the nerves and blood vessels in our feet, then our feet might be affected, and it increases the risk of amputations.

Again, these are scary, extremely serious complications. The good news is that they are all preventable, if diabetes is well-controlled.