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Diabetes Causes

Diabetes Causes

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Causes and Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes

Obesity and an inactive lifestyle are two of the most common causes of type 2 diabetes, while not everyone with diabetes is overweight. Obese adults in England are five times more likely than healthy-weight adults to be diagnosed with diabetes. 90% of people with type 2 diabetes are currently overweight or obese. Obese people with a higher BMI are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than obese people with a lower BMI.

Type 2 Diabetes Causes

Your pancreas, the organ behind your stomach, releases insulin to help your body store and utilise sugar from the food you eat while you’re healthy. When one or more of the following events occur, diabetes develops:

  • Your pancreas produces no insulin.
  • Your pancreas only produces a small amount of insulin.
  • Insulin does not work as it should in your body.

Type 2 diabetes patients, unlike type 1 diabetes patients, produce insulin. However, the insulin produced by their pancreas is insufficient, or their bodies are unable to identify and utilise the insulin. This is what doctors term insulin resistance.

Glucose (sugar) cannot enter your cells when there is insufficient insulin or when insulin is not utilised properly. Instead, it builds up in your bloodstream. This can harm a variety of body parts. Also, because cells aren’t getting enough glucose, they don’t function properly.

Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is thought to have a substantial hereditary component, meaning it runs in families. Your odds increase if you have a parent, brother, or sister who has it. Type 2 diabetes may be linked to a number of genes. If you have any of the following risk factors, talk to your doctor about getting a diabetes test:

  • Blood pressure problems
  • High triglyceride (fat) levels in the blood. If it’s more than 150 milligrammes per deciliter (mg/dL), it’s too high.
  • Low levels of “good” cholesterol. If it’s less than 40 mg/dL, it’s too low.
  • Prediabetes can be caused by gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds. That indicates your blood sugar is higher than normal, but you don’t yet have diabetes.
  • Heart problems
  • Diet high in fat and carbohydrates. When you don’t have enough healthful food, this can happen as a result of food insecurity.
  • High alcohol consumption
  • Sedentary lifestyle
  • Being obese or overweight
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
  • Being of a higher-risk ethnicity: African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to develop type 2 diabetes.
  • You’ve reached the age of 45. Type 2 diabetes is more common as people get older. Type 2 diabetes risk begins to grow at the age of 45 and increases significantly after 65.
  • You’ve undergone organ transplantation. You must take medications for the rest of your life after an organ transplant to prevent your body from rejecting the donor organ. Many of these medicines, such as tacrolimus (Astagraf, Prograf) and steroids, assist organ transplants to work, but they can also cause or worsen diabetes.

A good diet and lifestyle choices, as well as medication if necessary, can help you control type 2 diabetes in the same manner that you manage other aspects of your life. As you become your own health advocate, make sure you get the most up-to-date information on this illness.

Insulin’s Role in the Development of Type 2 Diabetes

It helps to know more about how your body uses food for energy to understand why insulin is so crucial. There are millions of cells in your body. These cells require relatively simple food to produce energy. Much of what you eat or drink is broken down into a simple sugar called glucose. It travels through the bloodstream to these cells, providing the energy your body requires for daily tasks.

Insulin and other hormones regulate glucose levels in the bloodstream. Small amounts of insulin are constantly released by your pancreas. The pancreas releases more insulin when the amount of glucose in your blood reaches a certain level, allowing more glucose to enter the cells. The glucose levels in the blood (blood glucose levels) drop as a result.

To prevent blood glucose levels from falling too low (hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar), your body tells you to eat and releases glucose from the liver’s storage. It also instructs the body to reduce insulin production.

People with diabetes either don’t produce insulin or their bodies’ cells can’t utilise it. This results in high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is defined as follows:

  • After an 8-hour fast, a blood glucose level of greater than or equivalent to 126 milligrammes per deciliter (mg/dL) (not eating anything).
  • A non-fasting glucose level of 200 mg/dL or higher, together with diabetes symptoms.
  • On a 2-hour glucose tolerance test, a glucose level greater than or equivalent to 200 mg/dL

A1c is equal to or greater than 6.5 percent The diagnosis must be confirmed with a repeat test unless the person has clear symptoms of diabetes or is in a diabetic crisis.