Can thin people get type 2 diabetes?
Yes, thin people can get type 2 diabetes. Around 10 to 15 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are not overweight. Genes, fat stored around the organs rather than under the skin, muscle loss with age, and some ancestries carry risk at lower body weights.
South Asian and East Asian adults, for example, develop insulin resistance at BMIs the charts call normal.
Family history plus any symptoms, or simply turning 35, justifies a screening HbA1c regardless of the mirror. Thin does not mean exempt.
Source: NHS, type 2 diabetes
See a doctor promptly if
- Excessive thirst, passing large amounts of urine, blurred vision or unexplained weight loss. These suggest blood sugar is already well above the prediabetes range
- Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, deep rapid breathing or a fruity smell on the breath: go to an emergency department
- A random blood glucose of 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) or higher, or a fasting glucose of 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) or higher
- New numbness, burning or pins and needles in both feet
- A wound on the foot that is not healing, or a skin or genital infection that keeps returning
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Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
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