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There is no simple answer to what causes
type 2 diabetes
(noninsulin-dependent) diabetes.
While eating sugar, for example, doesn't cause diabetes, eating large
amounts of sugar and other rich, fatty foods, can cause weight gain.
Most people who develop diabetes are overweight. Scientists do not fully
understand why obesity increases someone's chances of developing
diabetes, but they believe obesity is a major factor leading to
type 2
diabetes. Current research should help explain why
the disorder occurs and why obesity is such an important risk factor.
Points to Remember
- In people with noninsulin-dependent diabetes, insulin doesn't
lower blood sugar, a condition called
insulin resistance.
- Obesity is a risk factor for diabetes.
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A major cause of diabetes is
insulin resistance.
Scientists are
still searching for the causes of insulin resistance, but they have
identified two possibilities. The first could be a defect in insulin
receptors on cells. Like an appliance that needs to be plugged into an
electrical outlet, insulin has to bind to a receptor to function.
Several things can go wrong with receptors. There may not be enough
receptors for insulin to bind to, or a defect in the receptors may
prevent insulin from binding.
A second possible cause involves the process that occurs after
insulin plugs into the receptor. Insulin may bind to the receptor, but
the cells don't read the signal to metabolize the glucose. Scientists
are studying cells to see why this might happen.
From the
US government's Federal Citizen Information Center
10 February 1997
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/noninsulin-diabetes/causes.htm
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