What causes diabetes?!
Question: There are two main kinds of diabetes, called Type 1 and Type 2.
Type 1 usually starts in childhood. It is actually a problem with the body's immune system. It recognizes the pancreas as a foreign body and it kills it. The pancreas makes insulin, so when it's killed you need to take injections of insulin. (They are working now on insulin nasal spray!)
Type 2 is different. Your pancreas is fine, you have plenty of insulin but for some reason your body tissues are insulin resistant.
These are both completely different diseases but the effect is the same--sugar builds up in the blood and causes 'complications' like blindness, kidney failure, gangrene from poor circulation and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
The tendency to get diabetes is genetic. People who are overweight seem to be more at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, but it's not clear whether it's being overweight that causes it or whether being a little pudgy is part of the same genetic predisposition. Anyway it's never been proven that losing weight will lessen your chances of getting diabetes.
Answers: There are two main kinds of diabetes, called Type 1 and Type 2.
Type 1 usually starts in childhood. It is actually a problem with the body's immune system. It recognizes the pancreas as a foreign body and it kills it. The pancreas makes insulin, so when it's killed you need to take injections of insulin. (They are working now on insulin nasal spray!)
Type 2 is different. Your pancreas is fine, you have plenty of insulin but for some reason your body tissues are insulin resistant.
These are both completely different diseases but the effect is the same--sugar builds up in the blood and causes 'complications' like blindness, kidney failure, gangrene from poor circulation and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
The tendency to get diabetes is genetic. People who are overweight seem to be more at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, but it's not clear whether it's being overweight that causes it or whether being a little pudgy is part of the same genetic predisposition. Anyway it's never been proven that losing weight will lessen your chances of getting diabetes.
Eather you eat terrible and your bodys insulin production gets totally messed up or you are born with out receptors for insulin on your cell walls...
Well the above is somewhat correct. Either your body for some unknown reason destroys the beta cells of the pancreas. These islet of Langerhans produce insulin. In an autoimmune type disorder, the body destroys these, making that person a Type 1 "insulin dependent for life" diabetic. Or, Type 2 diabetes is mostly caused by obesity and poor diet making it very hard for the insulin to get to the receptors b/c of all the fat.
There are a few main ways that Diabetes happens:
Type 1 Diabetes happens when your pancreas stops producing insulin. If there's no insulin, your body can't lower the blood sugar so it goes up very easily after eating. This usually happens in kids, but can also occur in adults. Type 1 Diabetics must inject insulin for their entire lives in order to control their blood sugar.
Type 2 Diabetes happens when your body loses the ability to respond to insulin. The pancreas still produces insulin, but the body becomes resistant to it and the glucose levels rise. This usually happens due to excess body fat, but there is also a huge genetic component. Many Type 2 Diabetics can take oral medications/pills to control their blood sugar (the pills increase the body's sensitivity to the insulin that the person is still producing). More severe Type 2 Diabetics, however, require insulin injections when the pills fail to drop the blood sugar sufficiently.
Long-term steroid use is another less common cause of Diabetes.
Its not as simple as either eating badly or having a birth defect. If it was just about what you eat then why doesn't every fat person get it? Or why doesn't every member of a family get it?
As far as I am aware, the causes of diabetes are still uncertain. Yes diet & lack of exercise pays a part. Yes, it does run in some families but there is more to is than just that.
This is a complicated question.
There are 2 main types - diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) and diabetes insipidus.
There are 3 types of sugar diabetes and 3 types of diabetes insipidus.
The causes of insipidus are better known and it involves anti diuretic hormone in one type and releasing factors in another and target organ problems in a third.
The causes of sugar diabetes are more complicated and involve diet, heredity, diseases you may have had (eg mumps as an adult) and so forth.