Knowing What Causes Diabetes Will Go a Long Way in Our Search For a Cure
What causes diabetes exactly? Researchers are finding out new things about diabetes all the time but the precise causes are still a mystery.
Medical scientists are not sure why diabetes afflicts only some people and others with the same risk factors remain free of this chronic disease.
When the pancreas in the human body fail to produce enough of the hormone insulin, diabetes mellitus occurs.
This gives a clear indication of what causes diabetes.
This condition can also occur when the pancreas fail to process produced insulin in an effective manner.
Both of these occurrences cause the level of glucose in the blood to become too high.
Over 15 million Americans suffer from this chronic disease and it is the 7th leading cause of death in the US.
In Type I diabetes an auto-immune reaction occurs and the body attacks and destroys its own cells, in this case, it is the cells in the pancreas that are the target.
This reaction causes a severe lack of insulin since the body produces almost none.
This type of diabetes is also known as insulin-dependent diabetes and affects around 10% of people diagnosed with this condition.
No one is really sure what causes diabetes of the type 1 variety.
Although no one can pinpoint what causes diabetes some researchers think it may be due to one of the following factors: viral infection, genetics, autoantibodies, chemical and drugs,Some researchers even mentioned cow's milk as a cause.
With type 2 diabetes a few things can happen, either the pancreas produce a reduced amount of insulin, the cells in the pancreas do not respond to insulin, or both.
Type 2 diabetes is also more genetically linked.
In other words, it runs in families.
In the US, Type 2 diabetes affects 90% of diabetics.
Researchers think that they have identified several specific genes that may cause type 2 diabetes.
Other causes include the following: age, high fat diet, obesity which is weighing 20% more than the healthy body weight and sedentary lifestyle.
Ethnicity also comes to mind.
Minorities are especially at risk such as Black, Asian and Hispanic Americans.
American Indian and Pacific Islanders are also at risk.
Aging is a risk factor for occurrence of diabetes increases after age 45 and then again significantly after 65.
Improper functioning of the pancreas due to increase in hormones for pregnant women puts them at risk for gestational diabetes, which may result in extreme weight gain during pregnancy or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
Having gestational diabetes in previous pregnancies is also a risk for pregnant women.
With new drugs coming in and the technology in such a frantic mode, we may hopefully see the course of diabetes shift.
Going on a frenzied backstroke to find out why it happened may not lead us anywhere.
Instead, let us just try to shove past by what causes diabetes and focus on getting healthy.
Medical scientists are not sure why diabetes afflicts only some people and others with the same risk factors remain free of this chronic disease.
When the pancreas in the human body fail to produce enough of the hormone insulin, diabetes mellitus occurs.
This gives a clear indication of what causes diabetes.
This condition can also occur when the pancreas fail to process produced insulin in an effective manner.
Both of these occurrences cause the level of glucose in the blood to become too high.
Over 15 million Americans suffer from this chronic disease and it is the 7th leading cause of death in the US.
In Type I diabetes an auto-immune reaction occurs and the body attacks and destroys its own cells, in this case, it is the cells in the pancreas that are the target.
This reaction causes a severe lack of insulin since the body produces almost none.
This type of diabetes is also known as insulin-dependent diabetes and affects around 10% of people diagnosed with this condition.
No one is really sure what causes diabetes of the type 1 variety.
Although no one can pinpoint what causes diabetes some researchers think it may be due to one of the following factors: viral infection, genetics, autoantibodies, chemical and drugs,Some researchers even mentioned cow's milk as a cause.
With type 2 diabetes a few things can happen, either the pancreas produce a reduced amount of insulin, the cells in the pancreas do not respond to insulin, or both.
Type 2 diabetes is also more genetically linked.
In other words, it runs in families.
In the US, Type 2 diabetes affects 90% of diabetics.
Researchers think that they have identified several specific genes that may cause type 2 diabetes.
Other causes include the following: age, high fat diet, obesity which is weighing 20% more than the healthy body weight and sedentary lifestyle.
Ethnicity also comes to mind.
Minorities are especially at risk such as Black, Asian and Hispanic Americans.
American Indian and Pacific Islanders are also at risk.
Aging is a risk factor for occurrence of diabetes increases after age 45 and then again significantly after 65.
Improper functioning of the pancreas due to increase in hormones for pregnant women puts them at risk for gestational diabetes, which may result in extreme weight gain during pregnancy or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
Having gestational diabetes in previous pregnancies is also a risk for pregnant women.
With new drugs coming in and the technology in such a frantic mode, we may hopefully see the course of diabetes shift.
Going on a frenzied backstroke to find out why it happened may not lead us anywhere.
Instead, let us just try to shove past by what causes diabetes and focus on getting healthy.
