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Yemurai Machirori, Correspondent

Millions of people around the world live with diabetes or know at least one other person with the condition.

While most people have what is known as Type 2 diabetes, there are other presentations of the condition such as gestational diabetes and Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA).  

The latter is a slower developing diabetes which is usually diagnosed in adults, but bears similarities with another type, Type 1 diabetes, which is present in about 5% of the population and is mostly diagnosed in childhood and early teenage years.

The exact cause of diabetes is as yet unknown, but a mix of hereditary (especially Type 1 diabetes) and sociobiological influences (especially Type 2 diabetes) are implicated in disease causation and progression.

The complex disease pathway of diabetes therefore opens up debate around implications of lifestyle and heredity on health, wellbeing and disease management.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition, also called insulin-dependent diabetes or recently referred to as juvenile-onset diabetes, because it often begins in childhood as an autoimmune condition.

It is caused by the body attacking its own pancreas (the organ that produces insulin) with antibodies.  

The body needs a hormone called insulin to help it convert and transport glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body.

This process helps keep blood sugar levels under control, through regulation of insulin secretion from the pancreas.

In people with type 1 diabetes, the damaged pancreas does not make the required insulin leaving the individual to take insulin via injections or other forms of insulin therapy in turn.  

While this type of diabetes may be caused by a genetic predisposition, it could also be as a result of faulty beta cells in the pancreas that normally produce insulin.

The body will therefore not have the ability to produce insulin (a hormone that comes from the gland situated behind and below the stomach (pancreas).

The body usually breaks down the carbohydrates that are consumed from food into blood glucose (also called blood sugar), which it uses for energy.

As such, those with Type 1 diabetes may find that that despite having circulating blood sugar which is a ready source of fuel, their body is forced to break down fat as an alternative energy source.

This action causes the body to go into a state of starvation which produces toxic and life threatening acids – a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis.

Just like Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes also affects the way a person’s body uses sugar (glucose).

Having Type 2 diabetes means that the body is unable to regulate its own blood sugar levels and develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin or when the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin for the body.

The mechanisms behind this happens remain unclear, although genetics and factors that are related to one’s lifestyle, such as being overweight and inactive, seem to be major contributing factors leading to the development of Type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes used to be known as adult-onset diabetes, but today more children are being diagnosed with the disorder, probably due to the rise in childhood obesity.

Again, just like in Type 1 diabetes, there is currently no cure for Type 2 diabetes.

Slight changes in one’s lifestyle, however, can make a difference in managing one’s diabetes.

While losing excess weight, eating well and exercising can help manage the condition, if diet and exercise are not enough to manage one’s blood sugar well, it may be recommended that they be put on diabetes medications or insulin therapy.

Factors that may increase your risk of Type 2 diabetes include:

Family history: The risk of Type 2 diabetes increases if a parent or sibling has Type 2 diabetes.

Age: The risk of Type 2 diabetes increases as one gets older, especially after age 45. Researchers suggest that this is probably because people tend to exercise less, lose muscle mass and gain weight as they age. 

Pre-diabetes: This is a condition in which the blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.

Left untreated, pre-diabetes often progresses to Type 2 diabetes.

Gestational diabetes: If one develops gestational diabetes when they are pregnant, the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes increases. 

Healthy lifestyle choices can help prevent Type 2 diabetes, and that is true even if the condition is already existent in the family.

If a diagnosis of diabetes has already been made, one can use healthy lifestyle choices to help prevent complications. A healthy lifestyle includes:

Eating healthy foods. Choose foods lower in fat and calories but higher in fibre. Concentrate on fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Balancing between foods with high and low glycemic indexes (the amount of time it takes for food to release energy) can also help in the prevention of Type 2 diabetes.

Becoming active: Even though towns are shrinking and parks becoming scarce, it is recommended that one should aim for a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity or 15 to 30 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity at least three days a week.

Taking a brisk daily walk instead of driving, riding a bike, walking up a flight of stairs instead of taking an elevator can be activities that can be done during the course of the day.

If one cannot fit in a long workout, activities can be spread out throughout the day.

Losing weight: If one is overweight, it is said that losing between 5 to 10 percent of their body weight can reduce the risk of diabetes.

To keep weight in a healthy range, one may need to focus on permanent changes to their eating and exercise habits. 

Therefore, in as much as Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented or corrected, it really is up to everybody else to ensure that they safe guard their health and carefully choose their lifestyle choices in a bid to prevent Type 2 diabetes or at least try as much as possible to delay its onset. 

After all has been said and done, the question still stands, “can diabetes really be prevented and what are you doing to prevent it?”