8 Major Causes Of Type 2 Diabetes
There are?so?many misconceptions about Diabetes.
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Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic health conditions in the U.S. (a whopping 10.5% of the population has it)1—yet most people woefully misunderstand it. There are all kinds of misconceptions about what causes?type 2 diabetes. Because of this, you might think you did something wrong if you get a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. But the truth is the condition results from a combination of factors, some of which can be outside your control. Ultimately, type 2 diabetes occurs when your body doesn’t use insulin properly. The good news is that there are lots of ways to change that. Keep reading to learn what causes type 2 diabetes—and what you can do to prevent it.
What is type 2 diabetes?
In a nutshell, type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when your pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin (or doesn’t use it efficiently), which results in too much glucose (or sugar) circulating in your blood, according to the?National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases?(NIDDK). Over time,?high blood sugar levels?can cause problems with your immune, nervous, and circulatory systems. Worth noting: If your body has started having problems producing insulin and using glucose, but your blood sugar hasn’t risen to a concerning level, you may be diagnosed with?prediabetes.
So what’s the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes? Type 1 diabetes also occurs when there is too much glucose in the blood, but it’s an?autoimmune condition, meaning the body attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
What causes type 2 diabetes?
Experts don’t know exactly what causes type 2 diabetes, but several factors are at play—some are within your control (think: getting enough exercise) while others are outside of your control (like genetics). Here are some possible causes:
1: Insulin resistance
The main culprit of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, is when your body doesn’t use insulin efficiently, which leads to high blood sugar. Glucose is what your body uses for energy. But it has a lock on it, meaning it can’t get into your cells on its own; it needs insulin to do that (think of insulin as a key that opens the lock so glucose can enter).
Insulin resistance is when your key (insulin) doesn’t work as well. Sometimes it unlocks, and sometimes you have to go through a series of acrobatic hand movements to get the lock to open. Since glucose isn’t getting into your cells consistently, there is extra circulating in your blood, increasing your blood glucose, or blood sugar, which may lead to type 2 diabetes.
There’s another thing that happens with insulin resistance. Your body can’t make enough insulin to compensate for the extra glucose. As a result, more glucose ends up circulating in your blood, which can damage your cells and lead to complications that affect your eyes, kidneys, and nerves, according to a 2019 study published in the journal?Nature.2
2: Excess body fat
So what causes insulin resistance in the first place? The answer is complicated, and it doesn’t just happen overnight. But one of the main factors is excess body fat, which can cause inflammation throughout your body. That inflammation may then trigger a chain reaction that ultimately leads to insulin resistance and eventually type 2 diabetes, according to a 2015 study published in the journal?Lipids in Health and Disease.3
It’s important to note that not all people with type 2 diabetes are considered clinically overweight, and not all people who carry excess weight have type 2 diabetes.
3: Your genes and how you grew up
Inheriting specific genes can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If you have one parent with type 2 diabetes, your risk increases by 40%, according to a 2015 study published in the journal?Genes.?If both parents have it, that risk jumps to 70%. And compared to the general population, you have a three-fold increased risk if you have a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes.
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Another factor? Your family’s approach to eating and exercise when you were young can influence your habits as an adult. For example, suppose you had a single working parent and ate more fast food than home-cooked meals as an adult. In that case, you might still find yourself reaching for convenience items over fresh foods more regularly, potentially contributing to excess body fat and insulin resistance over time.
4: Your race and ethnicity
According to the?American Diabetes Association, those of Indigenous, Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander descent are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than white people. One reason may be that individuals from these backgrounds tend to have a higher risk of having excess body fat and, therefore, higher circulating insulin levels and instances of insulin resistance, according to an article in?Pediatric Diabetes.5 However, several complex factors influence someone’s weight—and the social determinants of health and systemic racism can undoubtedly play a role. Marginalized people may not have the same access to health resources (like fresh fruits and vegetables and exercise-friendly neighbourhoods) as white people, which can potentially contribute to body fat gain leading to diabetes, per a 2017 study published in the Journal of the?American Medical Association.
5: Your medical history
Certain aspects of your medical history can also increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. “People are sometimes surprised to hear that if they had diabetes in pregnancy—called gestational diabetes—they are at a much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future,”?Mary Vouyiouklis Kellis, MD, an endocrinologist at the?Cleveland Clinic, tells SELF. Specifically, if you have a history of gestational diabetes or delivering a baby weighing more than 8.8 pounds, you are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if you’ve ever been diagnosed with fatty liver disease or prediabetes, your risk is also higher, according to the?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?(CDC).
Are there other risk factors for type 2 diabetes?
A few other things can increase your risk for type 2 diabetes, though remember these things alone do not guarantee you’ll develop it.
6: The location of body fat
Research shows that carrying extra weight around your belly, in particular, can increase your risk for type 2 diabetes, as opposed to carrying it in your thighs or hips, according to an older study published in the?International Journal of Clinical Practice.7 The reason is complex, but it has to do with how belly fat triggers changes in the body that increase insulin resistance risk.
7: Not getting enough exercise
According to a 2017 study published in?Nature Reviews in Endocrinology,?exercise may be protective against insulin resistance because it helps the body use insulin better.8 Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week to lower your risk, recommends the?CDC.
8: Smoking
According to the CDC, people who smoke are 30% to 40% more likely to have type 2 diabetes than those who don’t. And the more cigarettes you smoke, the higher your risk. This may be because there is a connection between smoking and increased abdominal fat. In addition, smoking is known to contribute to insulin resistance.