Q. What is the main cause of diabetes?
Doctor Answer is medically reviewed by SecondMedic medical review team.
Diabetes is a condition where your blood sugar levels become too high. The main cause of diabetes varies depending on the type:
1. Type 1 Diabetes: This type occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas. Insulin is a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels by allowing your body's cells to absorb glucose for energy. Without enough insulin, your blood sugar levels can rise too high. The exact cause of this autoimmune response is still not fully understood, but genetics and environmental factors seem to play a role. Type 1 diabetes is not preventable and usually develops in childhood or adolescence.
2. Type 2 Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes is more common and typically develops in adults, although it can occur in children as well. The main cause of type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance, where your body's cells become less responsive to insulin. This means that even though your pancreas is producing insulin, it's not effectively lowering your blood sugar levels. Genetics, lifestyle factors (such as being overweight or obese, having a sedentary lifestyle, and eating an unhealthy diet), and aging all contribute to insulin resistance and the development of type 2 diabetes.
3. Gestational Diabetes: This type of diabetes occurs during pregnancy when the body cannot make enough insulin to meet the extra needs of pregnancy. The exact cause of gestational diabetes is not fully understood, but hormonal changes during pregnancy and genetics likely play a role.
In summary, the main causes of diabetes are a combination of genetic predisposition, autoimmune responses (in the case of type 1 diabetes), insulin resistance, lifestyle factors, and sometimes hormonal changes (as in gestational diabetes). Managing diabetes involves a combination of medication (such as insulin injections or oral medications), healthy eating, regular physical activity, and monitoring blood sugar levels to keep them within a healthy range.
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