In type 2 diabetes, muscles that are supposed to use sugar well might not work as well because they lose a key sugar-transporting protein, which could make those muscle fibers shrink over time.

People with type 2 diabetes who lose muscle tend to lose a specific kind called 'slow-twitch' muscle first, which is different from regular aging muscle loss or muscle loss from not moving much. This suggests diabetes-related muscle loss might be its own unique condition.