Diabetes is the result of high blood sugar caused either by too little insulin or an inability of the body to use the insulin it does produce. While a definitive cause cannot be defined for many types of diabetes, there are factors that can be identified that contribute to the development of the disease. In a healthy system, insulin is produced by the pancreas and operates to turn blood glucose into energy or store it as fat. In diabetics, this process is interrupted, and dangerously high blood sugar levels can result.
Types
The cause of diabetes depends on the type of diabetes it is. Generally, type 1 diabetes first occurs in childhood and is the result of genetic factors or inborn defects in the immune system that affect insulin production. Type 2 diabetes usually occurs later in life and often stems from external causes that affect the ability of the body to use insulin, although it may have a genetic component also. Some forms of diabetes occur only at certain times, such as gestational diabetes, which develops during pregnancy and ends once the baby is born.
Genetic and Biological Causes
Type 1 diabetes may have a genetic basis that causes the immune system to malfunction and begin to attack the islet cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Without islet cells, no insulin production can occur. Certain viruses, such as Epstein-Barr, or dietary factors, such as a vitamin D deficiency, may also influence the development of type 1 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, susceptibility to external factors that lower the ability of cells to use insulin may be inherited. Age and race may also be contributing factors, with people over 45 and those of Hispanic, American Indian, African and Asian descent more likely to develop the disease.
External Causes
Lifestyle choices can affect the development of type 2 diabetes in susceptible individuals. Obesity is a major factor that can cause cells to process insulin less efficiently. Inactivity, even without obesity, may also lead to type 2 diabetes in some people. Occasionally, physical damage to the pancreas, such as that incurred through trauma or disease, can lead to diabetes.
Gestational Diabetes
According to BabyCenter, between two and seven percent of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes as a result of their pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is caused by the elevation in pregnancy hormones which makes it harder for the body to use insulin and causes a higher demand for insulin. When the pancreas can't produce enough insulin to keep up with this increasing demand, blood sugar spikes and diabetes is the result.
Warning Signs
Individuals who don't have diabetes may be diagnosed with prediabetes if their blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to qualify as true diabetes. Blood glucose levels that qualify as prediabetes are between 100 and 126 milligrams per deciliter on a fasting blood glucose test or between 140 and 200 milligrams per deciliter on an oral glucose tolerance test.
