Exactly How Does Obesity Lead To Diabetes?
There are some people who don’t want to believe that they are at risk of developing certain conditions due to their weight. Unfortunately, there is clear medical data that shows people who are obese have a greater risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and even cancer. Another disease that people who are overweight are at risk of developing is diabetes. It’s good for people to know exactly how does obesity lead to diabetes. Once individuals become more familiar with how they can get diabetes, they are better prepared to eliminate certain risk factors. How many obese people have diabetes? The statistics that connect diabetes to being overweight are quite alarming. In the past, some medical professionals thought that people had to be obese in order to be at risk for diabetes. Gradually, people began to think that people who were even moderately overweight were also at a greater risk of developing the condition. Recent research has now shown that individuals who are even slightly overweight have an increased risk of falling victim to type 2 diabetes. So what are the exact numbers? Well, it’s believed that well over 25 percent of individuals who are overweight have diabetes. Also, over 80 percent of people who have diabetes are overweight. Since more people are overweight and obese than ever before, there are a lot more diabetics. The frightening thing is that there are a good number of people who don’t even know that they are diabetic. They might pass the symptoms off as something else. how does being overweight cause diabetes? Once it’s been established that there is a clear link between being overweight and developing diabetes, there’s another question that arises: How? Researchers have been trying to understand the link for years. It’s now believed th Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes
Print Overview Type 2 diabetes, once known as adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition that affects the way your body metabolizes sugar (glucose), your body's important source of fuel. With type 2 diabetes, your body either resists the effects of insulin — a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your cells — or doesn't produce enough insulin to maintain a normal glucose level. More common in adults, type 2 diabetes increasingly affects children as childhood obesity increases. There's no cure for type 2 diabetes, but you may be able to manage the condition by eating well, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight. If diet and exercise aren't enough to manage your blood sugar well, you also may need diabetes medications or insulin therapy. Symptoms Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly. In fact, you can have type 2 diabetes for years and not know it. Look for: Increased thirst and frequent urination. Excess sugar building up in your bloodstream causes fluid to be pulled from the tissues. This may leave you thirsty. As a result, you may drink — and urinate — more than usual. Increased hunger. Without enough insulin to move sugar into your cells, your muscles and organs become depleted of energy. This triggers intense hunger. Weight loss. Despite eating more than usual to relieve hunger, you may lose weight. Without the ability to metabolize glucose, the body uses alternative fuels stored in muscle and fat. Calories are lost as excess glucose is released in the urine. Fatigue. If your cells are deprived of sugar, you may become tired and irritable. Blurred vision. If your blood sugar is too high, fluid may be pulled from the lenses of your eyes. This may affect your ability to focus. Slow-healing sores o Continue reading >>
Your Weight And Diabetes
Diabetes is a group of disorders characterized by chronic high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) due to the body's failure to produce any or enough insulin to regulate high glucose levels. There are two main types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, which often occurs in children or adolescents, is caused by the body's inability to make insulin or type 2 diabetes, which occurs as a result of the body's inability to react properly to insulin (insulin resistance). Type 2 diabetes is more prevalent than type 1 diabetes and is therefore seen in roughly 90% of all diabetes cases. Type 2 diabetes is predominantly diagnosed after the age of forty, however, it is now being found in all age ranges, including children and adolescents. The impact of diabetes goes beyond chronic hyperglycemia. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness (diabetic retinopathy), end stage kidney diseases (diabetic nephropathy) and non-traumatic lower extremity amputations (diabetic neuropathy) in working-age adults. People with diabetes are also two to four times more likely to experience cardiovascular complications and strokes. Diabetes and its related complications result in an estimated 200,000+ deaths each year, making diabetes one of the major causes of mortality in the U.S. In 2012, the NIH reported an estimated 29.1 million Americans (9.3% of the population) living with diabetes. Of these, an estimated 8.1 million persons were unaware that they had the disease. How does my weight relate to type 2 diabetes? There are many risk factors for type 2 diabetes such as age, race, pregnancy, stress, certain medications, genetics or family history, high cholesterol and obesity. However, the single best predictor of type 2 diabetes is overweight or obesity. Almost 90% of people living with type 2 diabetes a Continue reading >>
Lifestyle Causes Of Diabetes Mellitus Type 2
A number of lifestyle factors are known to be important to the development of diabetes mellitus type 2 including: obesity, physical activity, diet, stress, and urbanization.[1] Excess body fat underlies 64% of cases of diabetes in men and 77% of cases in women.[2] A number of dietary factors such as sugar sweetened drinks[3][4] and the type of fat in the diet appear to play a role.[5] In one study, those who had high levels of physical activity, a healthy diet, did not smoke, and consumed alcohol in moderation had an 82% lower rate of diabetes. When a normal weight was included, the rate was 89% lower. In this study, a healthy diet was defined as one high in fiber, with a high polyunsaturated to saturated fat ratio, lower trans fats consumption, and a lower mean glycemic index.[6] Dietary[edit] The composition of dietary fat intake is linked to diabetes risk; decreasing consumption of saturated fats and trans fatty acids while replacing them with unsaturated fats may decrease the risk.[5][7] Sugar sweetened drinks appear to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes both through their role in obesity and potentially through a direct effect.[3][4] Obesity[edit] Obesity has been found to contribute to approximately 55% of cases of type 2 diabetes;[8] chronic obesity leads to increased insulin resistance that can develop into type 2 diabetes, most likely because adipose tissue (especially that in the abdomen around internal organs) is a source of several chemical signals, hormones and cytokines, to other tissues. Inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα may activate the NF-κB pathway which has been linked to the development of insulin resistance.[9] Gene expression promoted by a diet of fat and glucose, as well as high levels of inflammation related cytokines found in the obese, ca Continue reading >>
Obesity And Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes is a medical condition that prevents the body from properly processing blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes is highly associated with excess weight and afflicts many obese people, putting them at risk of disabling symptoms and complications. Because type 2 diabetes and its precursors are closely tied to obesity, weight loss is often all that is needed to improve or resolve them. Even a moderate amount of weight loss can help many people reduce diabetes medications and even put the disease into remission. When we eat foods that contain carbohydrates, our bodies break them down into a sugar called glucose. Glucose travels through the bloodstream and supplies energy to all of our cells. However, before our cells can use glucose as energy, they need a hormone called insulin. The pancreas detects the presence of glucose in our blood after we eat and releases insulin to balance our blood sugar levels. “Insulin takes the blood sugar that’s floating around in our bloodstream and puts it into the places we need it,” says Dr. Craig Primack, a medical obesity specialist. According to Dr. Primack, insulin is “like the key in the lock,” opening the door for our muscles, organs and fat to take in glucose and put it to use. When insulin is no longer able to fulfill this crucial role, we can gradually develop type 2 diabetes as our cells become unable to process high levels of glucose in the blood. Though it is not entirely clear why insulin stops functioning properly, it is generally agreed that obesity and physical inactivity are contributors to type 2 diabetes. Obesity. When our bodies have more fatty tissue, especially in the abdomen, our cells become more resistant to insulin and more is required to reduce blood sugar levels. Inactivity. Because physical activity uses u Continue reading >>
Why Does Obesity Cause Diabetes
The truth is that it has not been clinically proven without a doubt that obesity causes all types of diabetes. The reason that this association is made is that a vast majority of diabetics are overweight. At the same time, many overweight individuals develop diabetes. Scientifically, even though this is a major coincidence, it is not a solid fact as there are obese people who have not contracted diabetes. The reason for this connection is because people who are overweight are that way because they have made bad food choices. Instead of consuming a healthy mixture of the right fruits, vegetables, fiber and protein, they consume too much of the wrong things. They also eat in excess. When you do not have a sufficient level of activity to burn off these extra calories it turns to fat and complicates matters even more. Researchers believe that fat causes the body to become insensitive to insulin due to the release of a specific protein. This means that it takes more insulin to maintain glucose levels for an overweight person throughout the day than a lean one. In reaction to this, the pancreas does the only thing that it can to compensate for this and that is to produce even more insulin. Sometimes the body develops insulin resistance, a condition where it simply doesn't respond to the effects of insulin. In this case, cells do not absorb insulin efficiently, which causes an increase in sugar levels. Again, this is often in response to excess weight. However, we know that excess weight does contribute to type 2 diabetes. This becomes a bigger issue when genetics are thrown into the mix. The information provided on battlediabetes.com is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her health professional. This informati Continue reading >>
Not All Fat People Get Diabetes, And Not All Diabetics Are Fat
In the last article we learned that type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is characterized by chronic inflammation. We also learned that while inflammation often precedes the development of obesity and T2DM, obesity and T2DM contribute to inflammation – creating a vicious cycle of metabolic damage. In this article we’re going to review the complex and sometimes murky relationship between body weight and type 2 diabetes. There’s a strong association between obesity and T2DM in the scientific literature, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that there might be a connection between the two. But some obese people never develop T2DM, and and some type 2 diabetics are extremely lean. Even more strangely, recent research suggests that obesity may actually protect certain people from developing T2DM. How do we make sense of this? Let’s find out. How obesity causes type 2 diabetes As I explained in the previous article, body fat isn’t just a lump of inert tissue. It’s a metabolically active endocrine organ that secretes inflammatory cytokines and hormones, both of which have profound effects on our physiology. It has long been known that T2DM is a disease of impaired glucose metabolism. But what is less commonly known is that T2DM is also characterized by impaired fat metabolism. And recent research suggests that this is one way that obesity contributes to type 2 diabetes. The first step in this process is an abnormal gain of fat mass, usually caused by overconsumption of wheat, fructose, industrial seed oils or other dietary toxins. As fat mass increases, more leptin is secreted. (Remember, leptin is the hormone that tells the brain to decrease appetite, increase metabolic rate and increase physical activity.) Chronically high levels of circulating leptin cause le Continue reading >>
Obesity? Diabetes? We’ve Been Set Up
When it comes to the nation’s growing obesity and diabetes epidemics, the more we know, the more the evidence points to one conclusion: We’ve been set up. Important findings about humanity’s past, about how we live and eat today, and even about how we typically treat type 2 diabetes — with medications that themselves induce weight gain — are providing clues that explain how the past two decades could see an explosion in overweight and obese Americans and skyrocketing cases of type 2 diabetes, which is usually closely tied to the problem. Harvard’s extensive research on the subject weaves a story of ancient humans who were both extraordinarily active and able to easily gain weight in times of plenty. It illuminates how a modern diet rich in refined carbohydrates and heavy in red meat has preyed on Paleolithic instincts, creating an obese nation, a health crisis, and what one researcher describes as a hard-to-escape cycle of weight gain, insulin resistance, and weight-retaining diabetic medication, leading to more pounds. “It’s not just a trap, it’s a trap and a downward spiral,” said Assistant Professor of Medicine Osama Hamdy, a physician at Harvard-affiliated Joslin Diabetes Center and director of a groundbreaking weight loss program being replicated at Joslin affiliates around the world. Hamdy and hundreds of other Harvard investigators in recent decades have produced a dizzying array of findings on obesity and diabetes. Even a casual look at the years of research on the subject shows a slew of results on how lifestyle affects weight and how weight affects health. It shows new genes discovered, laser surgery to save diabetics’ eyesight, new diabetes drug candidates, and advances in using stem cells to replace the insulin-producing beta cells that Continue reading >>
Understanding Excess Weight And Its Role In Type 2 Diabetes
Register to attend a seminar and take the first step toward understanding your options. This article is designed to help you better understand the impact of excess weight and its role in type 2 diabetes. Excess weight, obesity and morbid obesity are all risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes. Often times, individuals are not aware of the health risk of excess weight until they are diagnosed with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. What is type 2 diabetes? Type 2 diabetes is a chronic, potentially debilitating and often fatal medical condition requiring regular monitoring of an individual's blood sugar level and treatment. In type 2 diabetes, the body either does not properly produce or use insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps move sugar into cells. Therefore, the body becomes resistant to insulin. This resistance causes high blood sugar levels. What are the complications of high blood sugar levels? Excess sugar in the blood causes many health-related problems. The cells cannot get enough of the sugar they need, and when sugar levels in the blood become too high, it causes damage to nerves and blood vessels, usually in the heart, feet, hands, kidneys and eyes. Other complications of high sugar and insulin resistance include: Increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Neuropathy (nerve damage, especially in extremities). Nephropathy (renal impairment, kidney failure). Retinopathy (vision problems, blindness). Cardiovascular disease (heart disease and increased risk of stroke). Erectile dysfunction in men and decreased sexual desire in both men and women. Depression. Amputation. How does excess weight impact type 2 diabetes? Excess weight can greatly affect your health in many ways, with type 2 diabetes being one of the most serious. There are many for Continue reading >>
Obesity Isn't Sole Cause Of Type 2 Diabetes
HealthDay Reporter type 2 diabetes epidemic is commonly linked to being overweight or obese, excess weight isn't the only factor driving the trend, new research suggests. In just the past few months, at least three new studies have reported on other factors that may underlie a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. These factors include genetic mutations, a lesser-known hormone called amylin, as well as disturbances in the body's natural clock. The idea that type 2 diabetes isn't only caused by obesity isn't a new one. "Genetics is a big factor in type 2 diabetes. Certain ethnic groups get type 2 diabetes at much higher rates, and at much younger ages than other groups," said Dr. Christine Resta, an endocrinologist at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. "Obesity is clearly part of type 2 diabetes for most people. But the diagnosis is probably about 50 percent luck, due to things like your family history, and 50 percent what you're doing, like your lifestyle. There are thin people who get type 2 diabetes, and some people -- no matter what they weigh -- just won't get diabetes," she explained. Type 2 diabetes is a disorder that causes sugar to build up in the blood. It develops as the body's cells become significantly resistant to insulin, making it difficult for those cells to use sugar for fuel. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that helps usher sugar into cells for energy. As a result, the pancreas produces more and more insulin. Eventually, the pancreas is no longer able to keep up with the demand for insulin. This is when type 2 occurs, according to the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Genes definitely play a role in type 2 diabetes, according to NIDDK. Family history and ethnicity also play a role. A sedentary li Continue reading >>
Obesity And Type 2 Diabetes: What Can Be Unified And What Needs To Be Individualized?
OBJECTIVE This report examines what is known about the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes and how future research in these areas might be directed to benefit prevention, interventions, and overall patient care. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS An international working group of 32 experts in the pathophysiology, genetics, clinical trials, and clinical care of obesity and/or type 2 diabetes participated in a conference held on 6–7 January 2011 and cosponsored by The Endocrine Society, the American Diabetes Association, and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. A writing group comprising eight participants subsequently prepared this summary and recommendations. Participants reviewed and discussed published literature and their own unpublished data. RESULTS The writing group unanimously supported the summary and recommendations as representing the working group's majority or unanimous opinions. CONCLUSIONS The major questions linking obesity to type 2 diabetes that need to be addressed by combined basic, clinical, and population-based scientific approaches include the following: 1) Why do not all patients with obesity develop type 2 diabetes? 2) Through what mechanisms do obesity and insulin resistance contribute to β-cell decompensation, and if/when obesity prevention ensues, how much reduction in type 2 diabetes incidence will follow? 3) How does the duration of type 2 diabetes relate to the benefits of weight reduction by lifestyle, weight-loss drugs, and/or bariatric surgery on β-cell function and glycemia? 4) What is necessary for regulatory approval of medications and possibly surgical approaches for preventing type 2 diabetes in patients with obesity? Improved understanding of how obesity relates to type 2 diabetes may help advance effectiv Continue reading >>
- A Novel Intervention Including Individualized Nutritional Recommendations Reduces Hemoglobin A1c Level, Medication Use, and Weight in Type 2 Diabetes
- A Novel Intervention Including Individualized Nutritional Recommendations Reduces Hemoglobin A1c Level, Medication Use, and Weight in Type 2 Diabetes
- The CDC's "Diabetes" Data Needs to be Segmented by Diabetes Type
Diabetes & Obesity: Does Being Fat Cause Diabetes? Know The Facts
Diabetes, a group of metabolic disease has plagued many thus far in the life. Synonymous as the condition where the blood glucose levels rise high up and cause disruption in the functionality of the body, diabetes is apparently one of the dangerous kinds around. We here have been offering insights related to diabetes as part of our informative series for long. We’d further continue the segment with another one depicting the relation between obesity and diabetes. Read along as we impart our research-backed briefing on the subject. The thing about Weight and Obesity Human body rightly constitutes of the muscular weight supporting the skeletal frame of the body. However, there’s an optimum mark about it. The right weight of the body is what we call dream of. And therein lies the reality. The world is ridden with overweight and obesity. Obesity has been one of the most persuasive and chronic illness engulfing many around the globe. The dispose of excess tissue around the body, obesity causes increased a number of fatty acids. Those fatty acids inflame the body and can cause multiple issues on the health. One such peculiar thing about obesity is the lead up to diabetes, a metabolic disease affecting the blood sugar and glucose levels. And that’s what we’d be looking into this one. A look into the risk factors offers quite an insight on diabetes. We’ll pursue the relation between weight and diabetes down below. Let’s head down. The risk factors for diabetes Diabetes as known by occurs when the insulin production in the body decreases which affects the balancing of blood sugar and glucose levels. However, in many cases, the body produces enough of insulin but the cells do not use it, i.e. the lead up to insulin resistance. There are quite a few risk factors associa Continue reading >>
Sugars And Type 2 Diabetes
What is type 2 diabetes? Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person’s blood sugar to be too high. There are two forms of diabetes: type 1 and type 2 [1]. Insulin is a hormone that is key in regulating blood glucose levels. Type 2 diabetes can occur either as a result of insulin receptors becoming desensitised and as a result no longer responding to insulin; or, due to the beta cells of the pancreas no longer producing insulin. Often it is a combination of these two factors that leads to this condition known as type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common type – of all the adults who have diabetes, 90% of them have type 2. Diabetes is an increasing health problem in the UK with 3.2million people diagnosed with diabetes and a further 850,000 estimated to be undiagnosed [1]. Diabetes is a growing health burden and it is estimated that by 2025, 5 million people will have been diagnosed in the UK [2]. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the UK and the disease’s complications cause more than 100 amputations to take place each week. Each year, 24 000 people die early from diabetes-associated complications [3]. Its total cost is estimated at £13.8billion each year [4]. It is predicted that the annual NHS cost of the direct treatment of diabetes in the UK will increase to £16.9 billion over the next 25 years, which is 17 per cent of the NHS budget [5], believed to potentially bankrupt the NHS What are the causes of Type 2 diabetes? There is a complex combination of genetic and environmental risk factors that play a part in the development of diabetes – it tends to cluster in families, but there is also a strong link to environmental risk factors. Ethnicity also plays a major role in its development, with people of South Asian descent Continue reading >>
How Does Obesity Contribute To The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes?
John has basically laid out why obesity contributes to the risk of type II diabetes. The actual part of the pancreas involved is called the islets of langerhans and they are a normal part of the structure of the pancreas. They secrete insulin which in turn is used by the body to break down sugars and so produce emery for the body to use. Fat deposits can lead to either not enough insulin being supplied to break down the sugars, or no insulin at all. In either case this will lead to a gradual increase of Blood Glucose which if not treated can lead to ketoacidosis where the body starts to break down it’s fat supply resulting in the release of ketones. This particular problem can come on very suddenly (within 24 hours) and can lead to death unless treated. There is also a link between waist size and the risk of developing type II diabetes. Current UK recommendations from Diabetes UK are:- “Diabetes UK defines a large waist as 31.5 inches or over for women and 35 inches and over for men.” If your waist size is over this it is recommended that you ask your doctor about your risk factors. He/She may want you to have some simple blood tests or more normally a Fasting Blood glucose test. where you will either be given a breakfast containing a known amount of glucose, carbohydrates etc and a drink (Sometime just a drink). Your blood sugars will be tested during and 2 hours after the meal, if after 2 hours your blood glucose levels are 7.0 mmol or higher then you have diabetes. Treatment may be as simple as diet and lifestyle changes, diet and oral medication, mimetics such as Victoza (which mimic the action of insulin), or insulin therapy. If you are at all worried about your risk then talk to your doctor. Continue reading >>
Researchers Identify Key Mechanism By Which Obesity Causes Type 2 Diabetes
UT Southwestern researchers have identified a major mechanism by which obesity causes type 2 diabetes, which is a common complication of being overweight that afflicts more than 30 million Americans and over 400 million people worldwide. Researchers found that in obesity, insulin released into the blood by the pancreas is unable to pass through the cells that form the inner lining of blood vessels. As a result, insulin is not delivered to the muscles, where it usually stimulates most of the body's glucose to be metabolized. Blood glucose levels rise, leading to diabetes and its related cardiovascular, kidney and vision problems, said Dr. Philip Shaul, Director of the Center for Pulmonary and Vascular Biology in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern. "It was totally unpredicted that a major problem in obesity is the delivery of circulating insulin to your muscle. It was even more surprising that this problem involves immunoglobulins, which are the proteins that make up circulating antibodies," said Dr. Chieko Mineo, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, who is a co-senior author on the report with Dr. Shaul. The researchers found that obese mice have an unexpected chemical change in their immunoglobulins. "The abnormal immunoglobulins then act on cells lining blood vessels to inhibit an enzyme needed to transfer insulin from the bloodstream into the muscle," said Dr. Shaul, who holds the Associates First Capital Corporation Distinguished Chair in Pediatrics. "Type 2 diabetes patients have the same chemical change, and if we give a mouse immunoglobulins from a type 2 diabetic individual, the mouse becomes diabetic." The findings reported in The Journal of Clinical Investigation may lead to new tools for diabetes risk screening and new avenues for diabetes preventio Continue reading >>
