Which statement best describes type 2 diabetes?

• A. Autoimmune destruction of beta cells
• B. Chronic disease with insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency
• C. Absolute insulin deficiency due to beta-cell destruction
• D. Acute pancreatitis

Answer: (B)

Type 2 diabetes is defined by insulin resistance with a relative insulin deficiency. When the body's tissues don’t respond well to insulin, blood glucose rises. In response, the pancreas makes more insulin, but over time the beta cells can’t keep up, so there isn’t enough insulin to compensate. This combination—cells resistant to insulin and a gradual decline in insulin production—drives the hyperglycemia characteristic of type 2. This differs from autoimmune destruction of beta cells seen in type 1 diabetes, which causes an absolute insulin deficiency, and from acute pancreatitis, which is an inflammatory condition of the pancreas and not the underlying mechanism of type 2 diabetes.