What Causes Diabetes and How to Prevent and Treat It
Diabetes concept measure with fruits and vegetables in background ensuring a healthy lifestyle

What is diabetes?

Diabetes – I’m sure we’ve all heard about it, but how many of us actually know what it means? The term diabetes actually refers to a group of diseases that can arise due to a rage of causes. In general, people who have diabetes have high blood glucose. This state can also be referred to as high blood sugar or hyperglycemia.

Diabetes can be classified into two common main types – type 1 and type 2. They are brought about by different causes.

Diabetes can be classified into two common main types – type 1 and type 2. They are brought about by different causes.

What are the causes of diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, meaning that the body’s immune system attacks and destroys its own beta cells even though its normal function is to protect the body from infection by destroying viruses, bacteria and other harmful foreign substances. Diabetes then occurs when there is insufficient insulin due to the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.

Type 1 diabetes usually occurs in children and young adults, although it is possible for it to occur in persons of any age.

Genetic Susceptibility

One important factor in determining a person’s likelihood of developing type 1 diabetes is heredity. Many genes that are passed down from biological parent to child have been found to be influential in determining susceptibility to and protection from type 1 diabetes.

Autoimmune Destruction of Beta Cells

Research has suggested that insulin itself might be an important trigger for the immune system attacking the beta cells. Put simply, people who are susceptible to developing type 1 diabetes have immune systems that respond to insulin as if it were an antigen (or foreign substance).

Environmental Factors

Environmental factors can play a significant role in the development of type 1 diabetes. Possible factors include food ingested and toxins present in the environment. It has been suggested that environmental factors can trigger the immune system’s attack on beta cells.

Viruses and Infections

Viruses alone are unable to bring about type 1 diabetes, but there has been a correlation between viral infections and diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. This suggests that there is a link between the two. Also, type 1 diabetes often develops during the winter, which is also the period of time in which viral infections are common.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes – more so than type 1 diabetes. It can be brought about by a number of factors. A person with type 2 diabetes is unable to utilise insulin effectively, and at the same time is unable to produce enough insulin to compensate for the impaired ability to use insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is most common in middle-aged and older people who are overweight. However, it can also be found in obese children and adolescents.

Genetic Susceptibility

Genes are one of the most critical factors regarding susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. This is proven by the high rate of type 2 diabetes in families, especially in the cases of identical twins. Also, there are distinct variations in type 2 diabetes prevalence by ethnicity – namely, African Americans, American Indians and Pacific Islander Americans are amongst the ethnic groups that seem to be most susceptible to type 2 diabetes.

Genes can also affect a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes by increasing his or her tendency to become overweight.

Obesity and Physical Inactivity

If your caloric intake is much higher than your level of physical activity, this can lead to obesity, which causes insulin resistance. This then contributes to susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. It is alright to have a high caloric intake, but do ensure that you have a relatively high level of physical activity to go with it.

Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is common amongst people who are overweight, have excess abdominal fat, and are not physically active. Because of these factors, their liver cells respond ineffectively to insulin. The pancreas is then stimulated to produce extra insulin. The combination of ineffective insulin utilization and beta cell dysfunction causes blood glucose levels to rise, resulting in diabetes.

How can I prevent diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented, but you can prevent type 2 diabetes by making the following healthy lifestyle choices.

Be more physically active:

Try to get about 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day. Choose to take a walk instead of the bus, or the stairs instead of the elevator. Or you could take a nice relaxing swim after a long day at work. It will go a long way in preventing obesity and hence diabetes.

Lose excess weight:

If you are currently overweight, do try to get your weight down to a healthy range. A good guide is to aim to lose 7 percent of your body weight. So if you are currently weighing in at 90.9 kilograms (200 pounds), simply aim to lose 6.4 kilograms (14 pounds) and you would have reduced your risk of diabetes.

Have a healthy diet:

Reduce your consumption of foods that are high in calories and fat content. Choose instead to have more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Lean meats are a good idea as well.

Medication:

Oral medication for diabetes can help to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. Such drugs include but are not limited to Glucophage and Glumetza.

How is diabetes treated?

Diabetes used to be a fatal disease a long time ago, before insulin was discovered. But with advances in medical technology and knowledge, people diagnosed with diabetes are able to lead a normal life.

The most important aim of diabetes management are the following – keeping blood glucose levels, blood pressure and cholesterol levels under control. To do this, you need to lead a healthy lifestyle – have a healthy diet, get adequate physical activity – and take insulin. Regarding the taking of insulin, it is important to balance your insulin intake with the amount of food you eat. Your level of physical activity also affects the timing and quantity of insulin you need to take.

Other things to take note of:

Monitoring your blood glucose levels:

You should go for regular blood tests to monitor your blood glucose levels in order to ensure that it isn’t fluctuating too widely.

Monitoring your blood pressure and cholesterol levels:

Although these aren’t directly related to diabetes, diabetics tend to be at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. As such, it is essential that you monitor your blood pressure and cholesterol levels in order to prevent developing cardiovascular disease. Eating healthily, doing frequent exercise and avoiding smoking will help as well..

 

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/treatment.html

http://www.medicinenet.com/diabetes_treatment/article.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/prevention.html

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/preventing-diabetes-full-story/

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/diabetes/

http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/Diabetes/causes-diabetes/Pages/index.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Diabetes-type2/Pages/Treatment.aspx

 

Related Health Tips

Importance and Benefits of Vitamins for Seniors

What are vitamins?Vitamins are organic chemical compounds that organisms get from food. What is special about these compounds is that organisms’ bodies are able to produce them, but are not able to do so in adequate quantities for normal metabolism, hence the need to...

Top Qualities to Look For in a Good Caregiver

Caregivers do more than just look after their patients and attend to their needs. They nurture, and foster a bond that makes them almost a part of the family. Sometimes, they provide more than what is required of them.Many patients spend a majority of the last years...

How to Overcome Isolation When You Are a Caregiver

Being a caregiver is sometimes a lonely job. You may feel confined, restricted, shut away from the activities, the people, and the mental stimulation that you enjoy. As the companion for someone with unique challenges and needs, you may not see friends and other...

The Ten Biggest Fears of Senior Living, Resolved

If you believed everything that society told us about senior living, you’d think that senior living is a place the elderly go when they have no more options and can no longer care for themselves. How dismal! Fortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Many...

Celebrating National Anti-Boredom Month: 9 Steps to Help Remove Boredom in In-Home Care

When we prepare for our retirement and old age, we worry about things like money, future living situation, kids, grand kids, friends etc. What many of us forget to take into account is how boring life age can become. In our older age, kids are busy in their own lives...

Safely Celebrating Holidays in Covid Times

One of the most devastating impacts of Covid-19 has been the sense of isolation that it has created. Many people report that they feel starved for physical touch, even a simple hug. This isolation has been especially challenging for older adults who have missed...

Hearing Loss Guide

Many older Americans experience hearing losses of varying degrees of severity. In fact, more than half of all Americans over the age of 75 have some hearing loss. These hearing challenges can negatively impact their quality of life and disrupt relationships....

Hydration: Why It’s So Important

Your body depends on water to survive.  Every cell, tissue and organ in your body needs water to work correctly.  Your body uses water to maintain temperature, remove waste, and lubricate joints.It is important to drink throughout the day to replace the water your...

The Early Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease: What You Need to Know

Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects hundreds of thousands of families every year. According to recent estimations, 5.3 million Americans are currently living with the disease, 5.1 million of whom are aged 65 or older.Because Alzheimer’s is so common, it benefits...

0 Comments

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Phone

+1 803-574-3069

Location

717 Encino Pl NE.
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Store Hours

M-F: 8am – 11:30pm
S-S: 9am – 9:30pm

We are happy to announce that we now accept credit card payments for all your orders. Please contact us via live chat after you complete the checkout process to finalize your transaction securely.

X
error: Alert: Content is protected !!