Causes of Diabetes - What You Need to Know to Prevent Diabetes

You have probably heard many stories about various proclaimed causes of diabetes, from eating too much candy or too many desserts, to drinking too many sugary drinks, to experiencing too much stress. Although these practices and circumstances may promote weight gain, obesity and a weak immune system, increasing your personal risk for developing diabetes, they do not of themselves cause diabetes.

So what does cause diabetes? In order for you to understand the cause of diabetes better, we must explain how the body works when there is no diabetes. In persons without diabetes the pancreas, an organ in the abdomen, produces a sufficient amount of a hormone called insulin which acts as a key to let glucose enter the cells and produce energy.

Type 1
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In type 1 diabetes (also known as Juvenile Diabetes, since it usually starts in childhood) the cells in the pancreas that make insulin are destroyed, therefore they do not produce as much insulin as the body needs. This destruction of insulin-producing cells is believed to be due to the body attacking and destroying its own cells in the pancreas. When the body attacks itself it is called an autoimmune reaction. So Diabetes Type 1 is considered an autoimmune disorder. This type of diabetes affects millions of people worldwide and only now are researchers on the brink of discovering a cure.

Experts do not know for sure why these pancreas cells are attacked by the body, but a number of likely explanations and possible triggers have been suggested. These include:

* infection with a specific virus or bacteria * exposure to food-borne chemical toxins * exposure as a very young infant to an unidentified component of cow's milk

As you can conclude from the language, these are theories rather than scientifically proven causes.

Type 2

In this the most common type of diabetes, the cells in the body fail to respond to a normal amount of insulin; this is known as insulin resistance. You can think of it as a lock that no longer opens although you are using the same key that used to work before. So again glucose cannot get into the cell and therefore builds up in the blood.

To make up for this high level of blood glucose, the pancreas makes more and more insulin, and eventually tires itself out. At this point, there is not enough insulin available and the insulin that is available cannot do its job properly.

The following risk factors increase the chances of someone developing type 2 diabetes:

* increasing age * obesity * physical inactivity

Rarer causes of diabetes include:

* certain medicines - such as high-dose or prolonged steroids * pregnancy (gestational diabetes) * any illness or disease that damages the pancreas and affects its ability to produce insulin, such as pancreatitis

What does not cause diabetes?

It's important to be aware of myths about the causes of diabetes. Eating sugar in the form of candies, desserts and soft drinks will not by itself cause diabetes. However, frequently indulging in such high calorie foods may lead to obesity which puts people at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

Some people have suggested that vaccines may cause diabetes. However there is no scientific evidence to support these claims.

Neither does HIV cause diabetes. On the contrary, researchers have discovered that some of the promising drug combinations that brought hope and help to thousands suffering with AIDS have side effects which are poorly understood, including a greater likelihood of developing diabetes.

Excessive stress does not cause diabetes, although it may be a trigger for the body turning against itself, as in type 1 diabetes. Nevertheless, stress causes the body to produce steroids which make the symptoms worse for people who already have diabetes.

Diabetes is not contagious. Someone with diabetes can't pass it on to anyone else.

So while we do not fully understand the causes of diabetes, what is important is that we should try to modify our risks for diabetes by important lifestyle changes such as a healthy diet, regular exercise and weight loss.
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