How Type 2 Diabetes Progresses Over Time

Sticking to your treatment regimen may help keep diabetes under control and less likely to progress.

Written by Lauren Smith, MA | Reviewed by Alexandra Schwarz, MD

Updated on January 31, 2024

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You’re adhering to your prescribed treatment plan for diabetes. You’re taking your medications as your doctor prescribed, and you’re doing your best to stick to healthy habits. The improvements in your blood sugar control were obvious at first. Now, however, it seems like your blood sugar is getting harder to control, even though your habits haven’t changed. This is just how type 2 diabetes progresses over time.

“Diabetes is considered a progressive condition,” says Tara Kim, MD, endocrinologist. “Unlike the flu that has a clear-cut beginning and an end, diabetes can progress or regress on a spectrum.” The point is, don’t get discouraged. It’s a natural part of the condition.

Additional Medical Contributors

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• Tara Kim, MDTara Kim, MD, is an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital, Northwell Health.

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References

American Diabetes Association (n.d.). How type 2 diabetes progresses.

Wexler, D.J. (2023). Patient education: preventing complications from diabetes (beyond the basics). UpToDate.

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