What Causes Diabetes Mellitus

What Causes Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease group which is characterized by high glucose level resulting from defects in insulin secretion or action. It is commonly referred to as diabetes which was identified as a disease related with sweet urine, and excessive muscle loss. High levels of blood glucose lead to glucose spillage into the urine; hence it is termed sweet urine.

In diabetes mellitus, a person has high blood sugar, either because the body fails to produce enough insulin or cells do not respond to the insulin produced. This high sugar in blood prepares the standard symptoms of Polyuria which means frequent urination, and Polyphagia (increased hunger).

Three Types of Diabetes

  • Type 1 Diabetes: It results due to failure of body to make insulin and needs the person to inject insulin. It is also referred as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
  • Type 2 Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes which is also referred as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, results from resistance of insulin which is a condition where cells fail to use insulin properly. It is sometimes combined with absolute insulin deficiency.
  • Gestational Diabetes: It takes place when pregnant women, who never had diabetes before, have high blood glucose level during pregnancy. It can precede the development of type 2 DM.

Other types of diabetes mellitus can be congenital diabetes, which occurs due to genetic defects of cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, insulin secretion, steroid diabetes induced by high doses of glucocorticoids, and other forms of monogenic diabetes.

All types of diabetes are treatable as insulin became available in 1921, and type 2diabetes can be controlled with medications. Both types are chronic situations which usually cannot be cured.

Diabetes Symptoms

  • Increased thirst
  • Increased appetite
  • Increased urination
  • In type 1, weight loss is noticed and in type 2, obesity can be noticed
  • Other symptoms are skin irritation, blurred vision or infection, loss of strength, decreased healing capacity and weakness.

What Causes Diabetes Mellitus?

  • Family and Personal History: Many cases of type 1 diabetes are related with having a genetic disposition for disease from both parents. For people with a family history of type 1 diabetes, viral infections and autoimmune disorders can trigger the disease. Heredity also plays a factor to cause type 2diabetes, a stronger link compared to type 1 for people residing in the U.S., as per the American Diabetes Association. Family history of any kind of diabetes with multiple gestations can predispose you to create diabetes during your pregnancy. Also, if you were diagnosed with gestational diabetes, this can cause type 2diabetes in future.
  • Ethnicity: As per the CDC, your ethnicity and race can predispose you to the disease. Hispanic and Latino-Americans, African-Americans and American Indians are at higher risk for developing type 2diabetes. As for type 1, Caucasians have the highest rate as per the American Diabetes Association.
  • Obesity: As per one of the encyclopedia of anatomy, excess body fat disrupts the balance of blood glucose, insulin and fat. When you have food, excess blood sugar gets stored in the liver and other organs. As the organs cannot store glucose, it converts into fat. The more fat cells become full, the less blood sugar they intake. With all the excess glucose in bloodstream, the pancreas pumps more and more insulin till it can no longer be produced. Obesity is the common problem for people diagnosed with type 2diabetes and a causative factor for gestational diabetes.
  • Age: It is the common predisposing factor for diabetes mellitus. It is observed that as one grows older, above 45 years of age, the chances to have diabetes are more. It is due to old age, the person becomes less active, tends to gain weight, which leads to pancreatic dysfunction.

Other common causes of diabetes mellitus are high levels of corticosteroids, drugs, pregnancy (gestational diabetes), and poison interfering with production or effects of insulin, that result in high blood sugar levels.

These factors must be considered as risk factors and you must try to overcome them. What causes diabetes mellitus are not clearly known yet. There is still a mystery in it. Medical scientists fail to tell, that is why most of the people suffer from diabetes while others do not.