Diabetes can cause many complications. Acute glucose level abnormalities can occur if insulin level is not well-controlled. Serious long-term complications include cardiovascular disease (doubled risk), chronic renal failure (the main cause of dialysis in developed world adults), retinal damage (which can lead to blindness and is the most significant cause of adult blindness in the non-elderly in the developed world), nerve damage (of several kinds), and microvascular damage, which may cause erectile dysfunction (impotence) and poor healing. Poor healing of wounds, particularly of the feet, can lead to gangrene which can require amputation — the leading cause of non-traumatic amputation in adults in the developed world.
There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 occurs when the body doesn't produce any insulin. People with type 2 diabetes either don't produce enough insulin or their cells ignore the insulin. Nearly 95% of people with diabetes have type 2. "Type 1 diabetes" has universally replaced several former terms, including childhood-onset diabetes, juvenile diabetes, and insulin-dependent diabetes. "Type 2 diabetes" has also replaced several older terms, including adult-onset diabetes, obesity-related diabetes, and non-insulin-dependent diabetes.Type 2 diabetes typically develops over time due to physical inactivity, heredity and poor diet.
"Type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle disease," said Michelle Sheldon-Rubio, R.N., an education coordinator at the University of Maryland's Joslin Diabetes Center. "We live in a world that likes to mega-size everything. You can't go anywhere and get the small portion anymore. After eating so much food day in and day out, you won't feel like getting up off of the couch and getting any exercise. Over time, this takes its toll on the body."
When your cells become resistant to insulin, they refuse to accept it as the key that unlocks the door for sugar. As a result, sugar accumulates in your bloodstream. Exactly why the cells become insulin resistant is uncertain, although excess weight, inactivity and fatty tissue seem to be important factors.
Risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes include the following:
*a family history of the disease
*obesity
*physical inactivity
*glucose intolerance
*being over age 40
*being an African American, Native American, Latin American, Asian American or Pacific Islander
Although obesity and lack of physical activity both raise the risk of type 2 diabetes in women, obesity appears to be the more important factor, researchers report in the journal Diabetes Care.
Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues note that the relative contribution of obesity and inactivity to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes remains controversial.
To investigate further, the researchers monitored 68,907 women taking part in the Nurses' Health Study, a large ongoing study that is evaluating women's health over time. The women in the current trial had no history of diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer at study entry. During 16 years of follow-up, there were 4,030 incident cases of type 2 diabetes.
After allowing for age, smoking, and other diabetes-associated factors, the risk of type 2 diabetes increased progressively with increasing body mass index (BMI - the ratio of height to weight often used to determine if someone is overweight or too thin). The risk also increased with waist circumference, and decreased with physical activity levels.
Using women who had a healthy weight (BMI of less than 25) and were physically active as the reference group, the relative risks of type 2 diabetes were 16.75 in women with a BMI of 30 or more and were inactive. The corresponding risk in obese women who were active was 10.74. In women who were lean but inactive, the relative risk was 2.08.
Although both variables were significant predictors of type 2 diabetes, the researchers found that the association for waist circumference was substantially stronger than that for physical inactivity.
They researchers conclude that "the magnitude of risk contributed by obesity is much greater than that imparted by lack of physical activity," and therefore "weight loss and maintenance of healthy weight should be emphasized as an eventual goal to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes."
There's no cure for type 2 diabetes, but there's plenty you can do to manage — or prevent — the condition. Start by eating healthy foods, getting plenty of exercise and maintaining a healthy weight. If diet and exercise aren't enough, managing your blood sugar with medication can help you continue to live a healthy and active life.
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