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RISK FACTORS FOR DIABETES

Table Of Contents

Type 1 Diabetes Risk Factors

Type 2 Diabetes Risk factors And Prediabetes

Gestational Diabetes Risk Factors

Early Symptoms of Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes Symptoms

Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms

Gestational Diabetes Symptoms

In the United States, diabetes has become one of the most widespread health problems. One out of four people with diabetes do not even know they have it, and that makes roughly about 7 million Americans.

Diabetes is referred to as a group of diseases that affect your body’s use of blood sugar, commonly known as glucose. Diabetes often does not cause symptoms early on. Therefore, the only chance a person has to prevent diabetes complications is to identify and control the risk factors for diabetes. Its causes vary according to type. Yet, no matter what kind of diabetes you have, it can lead to excess blood sugar. Too much blood sugar can cause serious health problems.

Conditions of chronic diabetes include type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Potentially reversible factors for diabetes include prediabetes— when the blood sugar levels are higher than usual but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes— and gestational diabetes, which happens throughout pregnancy but may resolve after childbirth.

An individual can take steps to prevent or delay health issues as soon as he or she becomes aware of the risk of their diabetes. Therefore, this article lists diabetes risk factors. So that you can identify if you have any and take appropriate steps to control before more damage is done.

Type 1 Diabetes Risk Factors

In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas in the body stops making insulin or does not produce enough of the hormone. This condition occurs in about 5 percent of diabetes patients.

Doctors treat type 1 diabetes alongside dietary treatment with either insulin injections or an insulin pump. This type of diabetes is for life. The main things which lead to this are:

§ Diseases of the pancreas:

They can slow down insulin production capability.

• Family history:

If you have diabetes in your family, there’s a higher chance you’ll get it, too. Anyone who has a type 1 diabetes diagnosed mother, father, sister, or brother should be tested and adjust his/her lifestyle accordingly.

§ Infection or illness:

Certain infections and diseases mostly rare ones that can damage your pancreas.

Type 2 Diabetes Risk factors And Prediabetes

The most common type of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. In this condition, the body may still produce some insulin but cannot use the hormone as effectively as it should. This is called insulin resistance.

Insulin usually allows cells to absorb glucose. The cells may, however, become less insulin sensitive, leaving more sugar in the blood. A person may have gotten type 2 diabetes if the blood sugar is permanently high. An increase in blood sugar can lead to damage in the body.

Type 2 diabetes sometimes goes through a phase called prediabetes; at this stage, a person with healthy lifestyle choices can reverse the progression of the disease. Unlike type 1 diabetes, people often use oral, non-insulin drugs to treat type 2. If type 2 diabetes is not responding to these alternatives, then insulin injections become necessary.

Type 2 usually affects adults, but it can begin at any time in life. Risk factors to diabetes 2 include:

§ Age:

If you are over 45 years old and overweight or have diabetes symptoms, talk to your doctor about a quick screening test.

§ Acanthosis nigricans:

If you have this condition in which dark, thick, velvety skin develops around the neck or armpits.

§ Ethnic background:

Diabetes occurs more frequently in African-Americans, Alaska natives, Asians, Hispanic / Latin Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders.

§ Family history:

You have a parent or sibling who has diabetes.

§ Gestational diabetes:

You have had diabetes while you were pregnant, then its gestational diabetes. It increases your chances of having type 2 diabetes later in your life.

HDL:

When your body has low levels of “good” cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein.

§ Heavy newborn:

Having a baby that weighs over 9 pounds at birth.

§ Hypertension:

Often having high blood pressure or hypertension in which your body’s blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated.

§ Impaired glucose tolerance:

Prediabetes is a milder form of diabetes. A simple blood test will diagnose it. There is a strong chance you will get type 2 diabetes if you have it.

Insulin resistance:

Type 2 diabetes sometimes starts out with insulin-resistant cells. This means your pancreas has to work very hard to generate enough insulin to meet the needs of your body.

§ Obesity or being overweight:

Researches show this is a major reason for diabetes type 2. This type of diabetes affects more teenagers because of the rise in obesity among U.S. children.

§ Polycystic ovary syndrome:

Females with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at increased risk.

§ Sedentary lifestyle:

When you work out less than three times a week.

§ Triglycerides:

If you have high levels of the fats that are called triglycerides in your body.

Gestational Diabetes Risk Factors

Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that occurs in pregnant women. Most women with gestational diabetes did not have any case of prior diabetes. Gestational diabetes can resolve after the baby is born.

Once a woman has gestational diabetes, the possibilities are that it will return in future pregnancies. Moreover, having gestational diabetes raises an individual’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

During births, this form of diabetes affects about 4 percent of all U.S women. It is caused by the hormones that the placenta produces, or by too little insulin. High blood sugar in the mother causes high blood sugar in the baby. This, if left untreated, can lead to growth and development problems. Risk factors of gestational diabetes include:

Age:

The older you are when you become pregnant, the higher are your chances.

§ Ethnic background:

Nonwhite women are more likely to experience that.

§ Family history:

If a parent or sibling has gestational diabetes, it is more likely that you will get it.

§ Glucose intolerance:

Having previously had glucose intolerance or gestational diabetes makes you more likely to get it again.

§ Obesity or being overweight:

Extra kilos can result in gestational diabetes.

Early Symptoms of Diabetes

The symptoms of diabetes vary depending on how high the blood sugar is. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes tend to arise quickly and become more severe. Many people, particularly those with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, may not initially experience symptoms. All forms of diabetes bear some of the same warning signs such as;

§ Being thirstier:

Your body makes more urine, so you have to pee often; thus, your body fluids decrease, and to maintain it, the body needs more water, so you get thirstier.

§ Blurred vision:

Due to more usage of fluid in diabetes, the body fluid levels changes that could make the lenses in the eyes swell up. This changes their shape so they can’t focus.

§ Dry mouth and itchy skin:

As the body uses more fluids to make pee, there is less moisture left for other parts. So you also get dehydrated, and your mouth feels dry. The skin is the biggest organ in the body that also needs fluids to stay hydrated, but when it doesn’t get enough moisture, it can make you feel itchy.

§ Hunger and fatigue:

The body processes food into the glucose that cells use for energy. However, insulin is necessary for body cells to take in glucose. If the body does not produce enough or any insulin, or if the cells reject the insulin that the body makes, then you can’t get glucose into these cells, and you don’t gain strength. Due to this reason, you feel more tired and hungry than normal.

§ Peeing more often:

An average person usually pees between four to seven times in a day, but those who have diabetes may go a lot more. Because usually, the body reabsorbs glucose as it passes through kidneys. But when diabetes increases your blood sugar, the kidneys may not be able to bring it all back in.

This causes your body to make more urine, and that consumes fluids in your body. As a result, you have to go to pee more often, and you might pee out more, too.

Type 1 Diabetes Symptoms

Apart from common warning signs, you might experience;

§ Presence of ketones in the urine:

When there’s not enough insulin, the breakdown of muscle and fat results in ketones. They can build up in the bloodstream to dangerous levels, possibly a life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis.

§ Nausea and vomiting:

When your body makes ketones, it can make you feel sick to your stomach resulting in nausea and vomiting.

§ Unplanned weight loss:

In diabetes, when your body can’t get enough energy from your food, it will start burning the fat and muscles to get energy. This will make you may lose weight.

Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms

Apart from common diabetes warning signs, you might experience;

§ Numbness in feet or legs:

High blood sugar in your body can affect your blood flow, and this causes nerve damage that can cause pain or numbness in your feet or legs.

§ Slow-healing sores or cuts:

Nerve damage also makes it hard for your body to heal wounds.

§ Yeast infections:

When there is excess glucose in body yeast can thrive as it feeds on glucose. Yeast infection can grow in moist areas of your body, such as between fingers and toes, in or around sex organs, and under breasts.

Gestational Diabetes Symptoms

High blood sugar, aka gestational diabetes during pregnancy, usually has no signs. You might feel a little thirstier than usual or have to pee more often.

Final Thoughts

Here concludes our list of diabetes risk factors. Diabetes affects your body’s capability to use blood sugar for energy and causes serious health concerns. Knowing the risk factor to diabetes can help you maintain your diet and lifestyle that helps to delay or avoid diabetes.