What causes the most common type of diabetes?
Worldwide, over 425 million adults are affected by diabetes. According to scientists, this number will only rise and will be 592 million in 2035. Out of the types of diabetes, type 2 is the most common one. So, what causes this type of diabetes?
What is it?
So, what is type 2 diabetes? Your body needs sugar to function. Whenever you eat something, your body turns that food into glucose to use as an energy source. One hormone in your body, called insulin, makes sure that you always have the proper amount of sugar in your blood stream. If you don’t have enough insulin, the release of sugar isn’t properly regulated and that means that there will be too much sugar in your bloodstream, which leads to high blood sugar. If you experience high blood sugar for a long time, you might develop insulin resistance. And that is the cause of this type of diabetes.
Causes
- Hereditary: So, type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance. But how does this resistance occur? According to research, your chances of getting type 2 diabetes increase when you have a first-degree relative who also has the disease. If your parents, a sibling or your children have type 2 diabetes, you might get it too.
- Risk factors: There are some factors that might increase your risk of getting diabetes. These factors are: weight, inactivity, food choices, age, and pre-existing conditions. This means that if you are forty-five years old (or older), overweight, don’t exercise, have an unhealthy diet and have pre-existing conditions like prediabetes or high blood pressure, you might be at risk of getting type 2 diabetes.
If you worry about your health and think you might have an increased risk of getting this disease, you should contact your doctor to run the necessary tests and to get advice on how to make sure you don’t get diabetes.
Read more: 11 subtle signs you might have diabetes
Source: Health | Image: Unsplash, Towfiqu Barbhuiya