Diabetes Cases to Double in 25 Years

I think it has to do with more people with genetic diabetes. doubt we can slow it down unless we tell these people not to have children with other diabetic people.
Instead, we should focus on how we can help these people.
 
It could also be due to the climbing rate of morbidly obese people. I know I am currently at rick for diabetes due to my weight. That's why I am working real hard to lose it.
 
KristinaB said:
It could also be due to the climbing rate of morbidly obese people. I know I am currently at rick for diabetes due to my weight. That's why I am working real hard to lose it.
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Me too, I am pre-diabetic. That's why I have to work so hard to lose my weight. (I recently joined Planet Fitness..) I lost 20 pounds, I think, due to my illness. I am planning to lose more. My goal is 150!
 
Lighthouse77 said:
I think it has to do with more people with genetic diabetes. doubt we can slow it down unless we tell these people not to have children with other diabetic people.
Instead, we should focus on how we can help these people.
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Agree with you... :(:|
 
There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 is genetic. Type 2 is not genetic but develops because of environmental factors. This article is about type 2.

Obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise are all known factors that have contributed to an already serious increase in type 2 cases, the variety that is largely preventable and comprises about 95 percent of all diabetes cases.
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I don't think diabetes is mainly caused by weight...it's mainly caused by either genetic or the food with too many bad crap in it.
 
sallylou said:
There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 is genetic. Type 2 is not genetic but develops because of environmental factors. This article is about type 2.
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I don't know about that. My grandparents had type 2, and I think I'm more likely to have type 2 as well because of genetic.

But environmental factor could trigger it. I think genetic and environmental factors go hand in hand.
 
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You cannot change your genes but you can change your lifestyle. It's even more important for people with a family history of type 2 to change their lifestyle (e.g., maintain a healthy weight, cut our refined sugar and HFCS, exercise, etc.). If a person with a genetic propensity toward type 2 does that, she can avoid the disease. Two groups of people who are especially at risk are Hispanics and Native Americans who do not eat their traditional diet. Adopting our bad western diet is the problem. Especially the low-nutrient processed foods, which are not good for anyone. Hint: shop on the periphery of the grocery store not in the middle aisles where all the processed foods are.
 
sallylou said:
There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 is genetic. Type 2 is not genetic but develops because of environmental factors. This article is about type 2.
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That's not strictly true.

Type 1 diabetes is thought to be a polygenic (many combinations of genes) disease, so more than one gene plays a role in it's development, and the genes can either be dominant or recessive. But, even if the 'right' genes to develop type 1 exist, someone may never become diabetic: in studies of pairs of identical twins, one twin having type 1 diabetes only puts the other twin at about a 30% risk of developing type 1, despite the fact that they both carry the same genes: so there's something else, probably environmental, going on.

Type 2 diabetes DOES have specific genetic mutations associated with many of it's cases. That said, you're correct that although having a relative with diabetes does put you at a much greater risk, because of the obesity related rise of type 2, we can mostly say that the biggest factor in developing type 2 diabetes is poor lifestyle in people with the genetic inclination.

I just want to clarify that it's not always 'either or' so to speak: there are type 2 diabetics who have never been overweight, and there are type 1 diabetics who are obese.

The stigma associated with being obese has gotten many people misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and the association between obesity and type 2 has left some average-weight people undiagnosed for years, at the cost of their health.

Even if you're not overweight, asking your doctor to test your BG levels at your yearly visit, and if you have any symptoms, see your doctor sooner. If you ARE overweight and diagnosed with type 2, you should still ask your doctor for a c-peptide test at diagnosis to confirm that you are a type 2.
 
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