Type 2 Diabetes Causes and Risk Factors

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• QWho is at risk for type 2 diabetes?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  Those at risk for type 2 diabetes include:

  • People with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and/or impaired fasting glucose (IFG)
  • People over age 45
  • People with a family history of diabetes
  • People who are overweight
  • People who do not exercise regularly
  • People with low HDL cholesterol or high triglycerides, high blood pressure
  • Certain racial and ethnic groups (e.g., Non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians and Alaska Natives)
  • Women who had gestational diabetes, or who have had a baby weighing 9 pounds or more at birth

  Find out if you are at risk for prediabetes or diabetes at www.diabetes.org/risktest

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• QWhat causes type 2 diabetes?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  Type 2 diabetes has a stronger link to family history and lineage than type 1, although it too depends on environmental factors. Studies of twins have shown that genetics play a very strong role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Lifestyle also influences the development of type 2 diabetes. Obesity tends to run in families, and families tend to have similar eating and exercise habits.

  If you have a family history of type 2 diabetes, it may be difficult to figure out whether your diabetes is due to lifestyle factors or genetic susceptibility. Most likely it is due to both. However, don't lose heart. Studies show that it is possible to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes by exercising and losing weight.

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• QDoes obesity cause type 2 diabetes?

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  A Dr. Andrea Pennington, MD , Integrative Medicine, answered

  There is a close link between obesity and diabetes type 2 risk. In fact, the majority of American overweight/obese adults either have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. Therefore, weight loss is a good place to start in beating this silent killer.  When a person puts on 11 to 16 pounds of body weight they have double the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Those who gain 17 to 24 pounds triple their risk. Losing about 10 percent of your body weight (if you’re overweight or obese) can help with insulin sensitivity and blood sugar management. It’s time to break free from old programming that says we should eat what we want, when we want in the quantities we want and instead start to nourish our bodies and move our bodies to reclaim our natural state of wellness. And since diabetes follows a progressive course, we must intervene early before it’s too late.
  

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• QIs type 2 diabetes hereditary?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  Genetics appears to play a role in how type 2 diabetes develops. Like type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes also appears to run in families, and it is most likely due to the inheritance of certain genes. The link to genetics seems even stronger in type 2 diabetes than in type 1 diabetes. If a person with type 1 diabetes has an identical twin, there is a 25 to 50 percent chance that the twin will develop diabetes. But if a person with type 2 diabetes has an identical twin, there is a 60 to 75 percent chance that the person will develop diabetes.
  
  More evidence for the role of genes in type 2 diabetes comes from studying certain ethnic groups. Compared with Caucasians, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans (except Cuban Americans), and Native Americans all get type 2 diabetes more often. Native Americans have the highest rate of type 2 diabetes in the world. Hispanic groups, such as Mexican Americans, that share genes with Native American groups (where there has been cultural mixing) have a higher rate of type 2 diabetes than Hispanic groups, such as Cuban Americans, where less intercultural contact has occurred.

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• QWhy are people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at younger ages?

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  A Dr. Athena Philis-Tsimikas, MD , Endocrinology Diabetes & Metabolism, answered on behalf of Scripps Health

  

  Type 2 diabetes used to be a disease of middle age. That has changed, says endocrinologist Athena Philis-Tsimikas, MD, of Scripps Health. In this WisePatient video, she describes the growing epidemic of diabetes among people in their 30s and younger.

  

  Find out more about this DVD:

  Why Are People Being Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes at Younger Ages?
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• QDoes type 2 diabetes cause other health problems?

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  A Stacy Wiegman, PharmD , Pharmacy, answered

  Type 2 diabetes causes other health problems, especially if blood sugar levels are not well controlled. Type 2 diabetes can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, vision problems and blindness, kidney disease and kidney failure, nerve damage and amputations.

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• QHow can my body shape affect my risk of type 2 diabetes?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  Did you know that being an apple shape (more fat around your middle) rather than a pear shape (more fat around your hips) puts you at greater risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease? Another measure you can take is of how far it is around your waist (your waist circumference).
  
  Take a tape measure (a flexible one is best) and place it snugly (not tight) around your waist. Compare the length around your waist to the number below. If the length of your waist is the same or bigger than the numbers below, you have too much weight around your waist.

  • Men: over 40 inches
  • Women: over 35 inches
• QWhat are risk factors for type 2 diabetes and heart disease?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  There are many things, called risk factors, that affect your risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Some of these you can change, like whether or not you smoke, and some you can't, like your age. It's important to know where you stand in your risk for diabetes and heart disease. Once you know your risk, you can take steps to lower your risk so you can lead a longer, healthier life.
  
  Either way, understanding and managing your risk can help you prevent diabetes and heart disease and live a longer, better life.
  
  Risk factors include:
  

  • Overweight
  • High blood glucose (sugar)
  • History of diabetes during pregnancy, called gestational diabetes (for women)
  • High blood pressure
  • Unhealthy cholesterol
  • Physical inactivity
  • Smoking
  • Unhealthy eating
  • Age, race, gender, and family history
• QWhat is the vicious cycle that leads to type 2 diabetes?

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  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  Your blood glucose level is monitored by cells in your pancreas that are the lone producers of insulin, the hormone that transports glucose from the outside to the inside of your cells so your body can transform that glucose into usable energy.
  
  When the alarm sounds to make more insulin to help transport the extra blood glucose, the body can act like a chubby runner at the front of a marathon; it just can't keep up. It huffs and puffs and makes more insulin, but the demand is just too great.
  
  A person with type 2 diabetes has lost this glucose-insulin struggle. And so a vicious cycle begins: It made sense for us to store fat to survive when we were likely to have famines periodically or failed bison hunts, but today that fat causes insulin resistance, which makes us eat more, which causes more fat, which is associated with eating more, so we accumulate more fat, which causes more insulin resistance, and so on.
• QCan stress cause type 2 diabetes?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  After lots of studies and research, the best we can say is maybe. Stress can elevate blood glucose levels. Sometimes this is the direct effect of stress hormones. Other times, it's because stress leads people to eat more and be less active, which can also raise blood glucose levels. We know this is true for people who already have diabetes. So, it seems likely that if your blood glucose levels are already higher than normal (but not yet high enough to call it diabetes), stress could push your levels into the diabetes range.

  So the stress of a serious life event, such as the death of a loved one or the loss of a job, could play a part in developing diabetes. However, it is likely you would have eventually developed diabetes anyway as insulin resistance increased or insulin production decreased.

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