The Sweet Tea on Diabetes| Type 1 & Type 2

Diabetes is such a broad topic! I have personally noticed that the general public doesn’t know much about it, other than “you have to be on insulin.” Or, “you got it because you’re fat.” Both are incorrect. So, I have chosen to write this post to give you all the ‘sweet tea.’ We will go over what it is, some of the risk factors, symptoms of diabetes, and things you can do to prevent it. I would add that even if it is a disease, it does not mean that you have no control. There are ways you can help manage your diabetes aside from any medications. Like many others, including high blood pressure or high cholesterol, the beauty of this chronic illness is that your lifestyle and daily habits play a massive role in its progression and control. Even if you’ve been diagnosed with a chronic disease, there IS something YOU can do about it. So don’t let that keep you down! With the combination of your effort and your physician’s help, you can lead a very healthy life without complications of the disease. It takes a partnership for anything to work, and this includes your health.✓ Types Of Diabetes: Listed below are the two types of diabetes, but I will be focusing on the signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Type I Diabetes Mellitus  Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus Previously: Juvenile-onset diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Insulin-resistant diabetes mellitus  Previously: Adult-onset diabetes. Both types of Diabetes are issues with insulin. Insulin regulates the amount of sugar level in your bloodstream. Having too much sugar in your blood for too long can lead to specific health issues, which I will discuss in a different post. The most notable difference is that – in type 1 diabetes, your pancreas makes little to no insulin. In contrast, in type 2 diabetes, your pancreas makes plenty of it, but your body is just not responding to it, AKA resistant to it. The treatment of these two types is, therefore, quite different. If your body isn’t making it such as in diabetes mellitus type 1, treatment would be to give yourself insulin. It is the reason why it’s called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus But in type 2, your body does make it; it’s just not sensitive enough to it to respond, so it’s treated with different medications. Eventually, if still not controlled, insulin may be necessary, BUT not always. DEFINITION OF RISK FACTORS Before I discuss specific risk factors for diabetes, I just want to make you guys aware that there are different “classes” of risk factors. In medicine, risk factors are divided into – those you can change, and those you cannot change. We refer to them as modifiable vs. non-modifiable risk factors, respectively. Things you can change include – your diet, your sleeping patterns, your level of physical activity, whether or not you smoke, or drink alcohol. These are the things you can change. Things you cannot change include – your family history (genetics), age, height, race, and ethnicity. Further still, some can be a combination of the two: it can include your social economic status, which can affect your access to health care or even healthier food options. It affects your neighborhood, which can affect how safe it is for you to exercise outside. Some of these you can change with time, but sometimes it will take longer than expected, or they may always be that way. We call these determinants of health. These things can get in the way of you achieving your healthier lifestyle goals; they have nothing to do with your motivation or will to do something. So let’s get started on this sweet topic! Pun intended. Family history of type 2 diabetes If your family members have diabetes type 2, it increases your risk of developing it in the future as well. ✓ Even though type 1 diabetes can be caused by autoimmune disease, which can run in families, type 2 diabetes has a more robust “hereditary” pattern than type 1. Past medical history of gestational diabetes (GDM) Did you know that being diagnosed with diabetes during pregnancy increases your chances of retaining it or developing it later even after delivery?  Gestational diabetes is a whole other topic for another day, but for it to be called Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), you must develop it after 20 weeks of pregnancy.  Sugar issues during pregnancy are due to glucose intolerance, and most resolve after delivery. But did you know that your risk of developing diabetes is about a 3-7x higher than the average person, even 5-10 years after delivery and resolution of gestational diabetes? ✓ Also, infants born to mothers who had GDM are at higher risk of obesity and diabetes throughout their lives.  So there is a higher risk of diabetes in both mother and child later in life. Obesity, current or in youth Excess adipose tissue (fat), and in particular visceral (abdominal) fat, increases your risk of insulin resistance and, therefore, diabetes type 2. Why?   There are a few theories on that. It’s believed that visceral fat might cause two things. One, the accumulation of fat in the liver and muscle, which causes insulin resistance in both organs; and two, visceral fat causes the release of cytokines, and proteins that help with signaling in the body, which affects your whole body’s response to insulin. Your liver is responsible for sugar creation (gluconeogenesis) and sugar storage (fatty acids, glycogen, and triglycerides– energy for later use).  Insulin stops gluconeogenesis because it is a signal that there is enough sugar in your blood; there’s no need to make more. Insulin also promotes the creation of fatty acids (building blocks of triglycerides).  If your liver is resistant to insulin, it won’t be able to stop gluconeogenesis, which contributes to high sugars, while still promoting fatty acid production and deposition as triglycerides. It is the reason why diabetes can also cause high cholesterol and triglycerides. Your muscles are involved in the use of sugar. Insulin makes your muscles