I’ve read many threads on here and I now realize that there are at least 12 types of Type 2. I also read references to “Classic Type 2”. What is that exactly? Does it include the high BP, cholesterol and thyroid issues etc. or does it merely mean that the person is overweight? Just wondering… Joanne
I would think classic T2 would always involve insulin resistance. Glucose metabolism involves at least a dozen metabolic pathways. So there are at least a dozen ways for glucose metabolism to get out of wack hence the different types of T2.
HH, that is so funny! I didn’t know my paternal grandfather, but his son my father was a gentleman, intelligent, kind, generous and gave me a bunch of autoimmune diseases, including Type 1.
LOL! I suspect if the medical profession stopped telling pre-diabetics to eat low GI, the rates of T2 would be halved and the ‘classic fat’ T2 would not exist. As far as my experience goes eating bread, whether healthy grain or white is going to turn you fat and into a diabetic (yes, with half a brain HH)
Hi. Thanks for the responses everyone. I see many of you have been diagnosed as T2… low carbers too!!! I was just wondering if any of you have the “classic” issues such as high cholesterol or BP?
I have nodules on my thyroid but… so far…so good. My cholesterol levels have always been excellent. I have had very low BP since I was a child which was considered a problem until my diagnosis.
How about you guys? Joanne
Hi Pastelpainter. I can’t touch bread either. Well… I did have a tablespoon of stuffing for Thanksgiving last night. 
Trudy, Helen and Judith… yes… it was my maternal grandfather.
Thanks BadmoonT2. It’s just all so complicated… the more I know… the more I know that I do not know anything…can’t recall the exact quotation at the moment. I wish there was a way to determine exactly which organs are failing. 
I agree with bad moon T-2. The whole thing comes down to the chicken or the egg and determining what came first. The whole metabolism gets out of whack forcing many T-2’s to make too much insulin, then in-turn getting more hungry, packing on the weight and on and on it goes with all the other symptoms. Not to mention that there is strong genetic component.
What is really scary is the explosion though in children. Far too many carbs causing tragic results.
“Classic” Type 2 is the one that starts with a strong genetic predisposition (MUCH stronger than in Type 1), and is triggered by metabolic syndrome, including easy weight gain, insulin resistance, poor response to carbs, resulting in increased triglycerides, VLDL, and LDL, low HDL, hypertension, the “apple” shape, and pancreatic poopout. Some people have metabolic syndrome, but never experience pancreatic poopout, and never get Type 2 because they DON’T have the genetic predisposition to it, but when you’re not careful about picking your parents, you get zapped. Media and ignorant people notwithstanding, you did NOT “choose” to get this disease, and your eating and exercise habits are not different from the majority of other people with metabolic syndrome who do NOT get diabetes.
I only use the term “classic Type 2” to distinguish it from other reasons for Type 2, which as you may know, is a garbage-can diagnosis. Type 1 has a very clearcut definition, which is autoimmune destruction of the beta cells, and everyone else is Type 2. But there is no clear definition for Type 2. Some women get Type 2 because they have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and some people are called Type 2 because they are antibody negative, even though they are insulin deficient. And MODY (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young) is also considered Type 2, although insulin resistance may play no part in their disease. They are also antibody negative.
So “Type 2” really includes a lot of people with a variety of disorders, a variety of genetic defects, and scientists haven’t even found or described all the possible variations. Type 1 will be cured LONG before Type 2, because Type 2 is so complex and because it just isn’t ONE disease.
And smart Type 2’s, like the folks here on TuD, figure out that the oversimplified, overgeneralized propaganda that the media presents, and that other people use to point their fingers at you AREN’T the last word, or even particularly accurate, and you simply need to overcome the crap (I know it isn’t easy!) and figure out what works for YOU!
And I’m your head cheerleader!!!
And a dam good one at that. I know that you are T1 or LADA but you speak like someone one that has experienced being T2. You do a very good job putting into words what most T2;s think. With a cheerleader like you our voices will surely be heard. Thank you
Lol Stemwinder…Natalie is “Type Wierd”. I agree, I’m so glad Natalie is here to give us a voice! Joanne
Hi Natalie. Welcome home. So good to hear you guys had such a good time at the conference! Love the pic that Kelly posted.
Sounds like what you are saying is that the “Classic Type 2” … ie those who are perceived to be the majority of T2s…develop the cholesterol and BP problems.
I guess it would be useless to take a poll on here because most of the TuD T2s are low carbers so that would skew the results? Joanne
Might be interesting to take a poll and have people specify what their usual intake of carbs is. There might be a correlation with cholesterol, at least. But then again, there might not, because high BGs and hypothyroidism tend to elevate cholesterol, so level of control, and whether the person is being treated for hypothyroidism would skew the results, too. And then there’s visceral fat. Some people have more visceral fat, which promotes hyperlipidemia, while others who are at the same weight have more subcutaneous fat, which may be protective. And finally, there are different genetic causes for hypercholesterolemia, and very thin, non-diabetic people can have it too. My father was one.
Much too complex a subject!