7 Causes of Diabetes

There are numerous known factors that cause diabetes, including genetic and environment factors. In fact, different type of diabetes is caused by different factors. Below are 7 common causes of diabetes for your reference.

1) Heredity

One of the major causes of diabetes is through heredity. Although it has been known that diabetes can be inherited for centuries, the pattern of inheritance is still not fully understood. Statistic reveals that those with a family history of this disease have 25% to 33% higher risk of developing diabetes, especially type I diabetes than those without such a background.

2) Being Overweight

The other leading cause of diabetes is being overweight. When you are obese or overweight, your body becomes more resistant to insulin. This is particularly true when your Body Mass Index (BMI) is greater than 30%. Studies reveal that 60% to 85% of diabetics tend to be overweight. In the United States alone, there are about 80% of type II diabetics are reported to be overweight.

When your body become more resistant to insulin, the sugar in the bloodstream cannot be pulled into the muscle and tissue cells, causing high blood sugar level in your bloodstream. In fact, older people have higher risk of being overweight due to lack of exercise and loss of muscle tissue when they age. That is why it is normal that many of the elderly people who are overweight develop a mild form of diabetes or type II diabetes. Luckily, they can always lower their blood sugar level simply by losing weight and performing regular exercise.

3) Diet Habit

Diet habit is one of the major causes of diabetes. In fact, eating too much of refined carbohydrates leads to higher risk of developing of diabetes disease according to a study from the University of Wisconsin. Published in Diabetes Care, it reveals that Pima Indians in America are 5 times more likely to develop diabetes than their relatives in Mexico, although their DNA are very closely related. Study shows that there are only 8.9% of Mexican Pimas who diagnose diabetes, compared to 38% of those who stay in the United States. Although both population are similarly obese, it is found that Mexican Pimas are far more active than the American Pimas and eat far fewer refined carbohydrates.

Apart from that, diabetes is also caused by constant overeating. Besides too much of sugar and refined carbohydrates, proteins and fats, which will be transformed into sugar, may also result in diabetes if taken in excess. An interesting point is we can hardly find diabetes in countries where people are poor and cannot afford to overeat. That is why diabetes is direct linked with the over consumption of food, especially of refined carbohydrates such as biscuits, bread, cakes, chocolates, ice cream, junk food and pudding.

4) Medication
There are numerous drugs that can actually lead to the development of diabetes, like Clozapine, Risperidone, Olanzapine, Ziprasidone and Quetiapine. So, beware if you are on medication.

5) Stress

There is a known connection between stress and diabetes mellitus. For example, worry and anxiety resulting from examination, death of a close relative or good friend, loss of a job, business failure and strained marital relationship can cause stress cause stress. All these have a deep influence on the metabolism and thus causing sugar to appear in the urine. As such, those who are under stress need to take adequate precautions and make necessary adjustments in thier daily lives.

6) Smoking

Smoking is another important factor causing diabetes. Study reveals that the risk of developing diabetes for men who smoke is doubled than those who do not smoke. Another study shows the risk of developing diabetes for women who smoke 25 or more cigarettes a day is increased by 40%. So, if you are smoking and also overweight, your risk of developing diabetes is even higher.

7) Lifestyle

It is no doubt that people who are less active have greater risk of developing diabetes. This is because physical activity and exercise help in maintaining current weight, by using up a lot of glucose present in the blood as energy. Anyway, modern convenience makes work easier and less physical activity. People used to walk a lot previously but now they tend not to walk if situation allows. And people tend to overeat nowadays if compared to last time. This unhealthy lifestyle will subsequently lead to overweight, and thus increase the risk of developing diabetes.

Understand the causes of diabetes is a very important step to maintain good health. If you find that most of the situations or factors mentioned above apply to you, you should get tested for diabetes. In fact, perform medical check up at least once a year if you can. Apart from that, maintain a healthy body weight and diet habit as well as perform regular exercise are good ways to minimize the risk of diabetes.