Exploring The Causes Of Diabetes
Diabetes can be one of the worst chronic diseases, robbing you of your health and ultimately our life. While doctors disagree about the causes of the ...
Diabetes can be one of the worst chronic diseases, robbing you of your health and ultimately our life. While doctors disagree about the causes of the disease, there are several factors believed to heighten your risk of contracting diabetes. In order to reduce risk factors, you should pay attention to your general health, especially your diet, and learn everything scientists already know about this disease. It has already been proven that genetics play a role in the risk of contracting diabetes. Family history bears this out, even going back a century or more to before the disease was well-known. Those with an immediate family member who has diabetes are up to 33% more likely to eventually end up getting the disease than those whose family histories do not contain it. Let us take a look at the causes of diabetes…
There are also special risk factors for children, especially those whose mothers already have diabetes. A mother who has contracted diabetes prior to conception or suffers from gestational diabetes while pregnant seems more likely to bear children who suffer from juvenile diabetes than a mother who is free of the disease. Children whose fathers have diabetes are also at risk for contracting it in childhood, but the risk is far less.
This is especially true for juvenile diabetes. The children most at risk for diabetes have one or more parents who already has the disease, especially if the diabetic parent is the child’s mother. An additional risk factor is the onset of gestational diabetes in the mother while pregnant with the child. If the mother was diabetic prior to conception, the risk increases still further.
All women should therefore monitor their blood sugar closely during pregnancy. A diabetic woman whose blood sugar is kept under control is far less likely to pass diabetes onto the unborn child than one who suffers from blood sugar being too high or too low throughout the course of pregnancy.
A study sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases is currently investigating whether treating the diabetic’s closest relatives with low doses of insulin or oral diabetes medication can help prevent the onset of the disease.
Besides genetics, diet is believed to play a major role in the onset of the disease. Some scientists refer to diabetes as the “disease of prosperity” because it is believed to be caused by excessive eating. Overdoses of sugar, protein, and fat can all eventually lead to diabetes.
Chronic overeating overtaxes the pancreas, which is the organ in the body that produces insulin. Eventually, the pancreas shuts down altogether, and insulin stops being produced. This condition rarely occurs in impoverished countries where overeating is not an option for most people.
There are many causes of diabetes, mostly linked to diet and genetics. It is important to be aware of your family history, especially if there are many diabetics in your family. However, it is just as important to follow nutritional guidelines and change your lifestyle to include healthy exercise in order to reduce the risk of diabetes.
Outlook: Some diabetes statistics
