What Causes Diabetes?
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Diabetes is an epidemic that plagues not only adults, but young children as well. So what causes diabetes? When the pancreas isn’t creating enough of the hormone insulin or when the insulin being created isn’t working effectively, a person may become diabetic.
There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2.
With Type 1 diabetes, the cells within your pancreas that creates the insulin are destroyed. This causes a severe lack of insulin. There is a theory that this occurs when the body is attacking and destroying its own cells in the pancreas, also known as an autoimmune reaction. No one knows why this occurs, but there are various possible reasons and triggers of this proposed reaction. Some include:
Specific virus or bacteria infections
Exposure to cow’s milk at a very young infant age; this is an unidentified component that may trigger the autoimmune reaction within the body.
Exposure to food-borne chemical toxins.
None of these have been proven; they are only hypotheses.
What causes diabetes Type 2? There are various factors, which include:
- Receptors within the body fail, which normally respond to the action of insulin. When no longer stimulated by the insulin, this is known as an insulin resistance. A response to this; there is more insulin produced which over time causes an over-production and exhausts the insulin manufacturing cells within the pancreas.
Not enough insulin is available to the body.
Abnormal insulin available, which then causes it to not work properly.
The risk factors associated with Type 2 diabetes include:
- Speedy aging
Obesity
Physical inactivity
Some of the rarer causes of diabetes include taking certain medications, pregnancy (gestational diabetes) and illnesses and diseases that cause damage to the pancreas, which then affects its ability to make insulin (such as pancreatitis).
What causes diabetes? There are some myths about how diabetes is formed. One myth is said that by eating lots of sweets. This isn’t true; although obsessive eating of sweets can lead to obesity which could then cause people to develop Type 2 diabetes.
Another myth is that diabetes is caused by stress. This can cause the body to turn on itself (like mentioned in Type 1 diabetes), but it’s not true. Stress can make symptoms worse for those who already have diabetes.
Diabetes can be caused by drugs that elevate blood sugar, such as steroids and Dilantin. Diabetes is also a genetic trait.