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.
Type 2 Diabetes Causes and Risk Factors
There are no known, specific causes for Type 2 diabetes. However, those most at risk for Type 2 diabetes are adults 45 years and older and those of any age who are sedentary and overweight.
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See All 6 AnswersType 2 diabetes is caused over time, says Holly Anderson, Outpatient Diabetes Coordinator at Reston Hospital Center. Learn how it happens, and how long it takes, by watching this short video.
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Constance Brown-Riggs , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsSee All 5 AnswersResearch suggests that a person’s likelihood of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is strongly based on genetics.
You are at greater risk for type 2 diabetes if you:
- Are older than age 40 – as you age, the pancreas may not work as well.
- Are overweight or physically inactive – when you’re heavy your cells become more resistant to insulin.
- Have a family history of diabetes – if you have family members with diabetes you are a prime candidate for diabetes.
- Have a history of diabetes during pregnancy – called gestational diabetes. The hormones associated with pregnancy make the body more resistant to insulin. After the baby is delivered the hormones and blood-sugar levels go back to normal. But the mother remains at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
- Have given birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds. Women giving birth to large babies might have had gestational diabetes, which puts them at risk for diabetes.
- Are African-American, Latino American, or American Indian. Some researchers believe this may be associated with the “thrifty’ genes that increased fat storage during periods of famine. However today, food is readily available and the ability to store fat only results in obesity.
- Have impaired glucose tolerance – which means you have blood glucose levels above normal but lower than a person with diabetes.
- Have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. These conditions are associated with insulin resistance.
Be well…
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American Diabetes Association answeredSee All 2 AnswersGenetics 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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Dr. Athena Philis-Tsimikas, MD , Endocrinology Diabetes & Metabolism, answered on behalf of Scripps HealthType 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.
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Stacy Wiegman, PharmD , Pharmacy, answeredSee All 2 AnswersType 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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American Diabetes Association answeredDid 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
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Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answeredSee All 7 AnswersType II diabetes occurs most often in people who are overweight. Although the reasons are unclear, excess weight seems to impede the body's ability to metabolize sugar properly. That fact would make one think that it was environmental causes -- that is, overeating -- that was to blame. But no, it's a genetically transmitted disease with what is called variable penetrance. Variable penetrance means that if you're a twin and your twin gets type II diabetes, you have the genes for it, but the rate of penetrance -- that is, how often one sees the clinical manifestations of diabetes and how much it ages you -- is governed to a large degree by your lifestyle choices.
Type II diabetes affects 15 to 25 percent of adults over age fifty-five but is more prevalent among some groups of people than others, confirming that a genetic component is in operation. For example, African-Americans, particularly women, are much more susceptible to type II diabetes than other people their age. Indeed, 25 percent of African-Americans over the age of fifty-five have type II diabetes. Among certain Native American populations, the prevalence can be as high as 80 percent. However, in many cases, the disease is triggered by a combination of genetic predisposition and lifestyle choices. Ninety percent of those who get type II diabetes are considerably overweight, and most of these individuals also do not exercise or have a proper diet, further exacerbating the condition. If you "live young," you will have less chance of getting type II diabetes, no matter what genes you have. -
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American Diabetes Association answeredThere 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
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Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answeredYour 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.