Diabetes Type 2
Causes and risk factors for type 2 diabetes
You are at greater risk of getting diabetes if:
- A close member of your family has diabetes
- You are white and over 40
- You are black, Asian or from a minority ethnic group and over 25 years old
- You’re overweight
- If you have high blood pressure and if you have had a stroke or heart attack
- A women with polycystic ovary syndrome and are overweight
- A women and you’ve had gestational diabetes or given birth to a baby over 10 pounds
- You have a severe mental health condition, such as depression,schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, and you're taking medication for it
- You've been told you have impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glycaemia
The more risk factors that apply to you, the greater your risk of having diabetes.
Mike thinks diabetes is caused by hereditary factors as well as lifestyle.
Mike thinks diabetes is caused by hereditary factors as well as lifestyle.
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My brother is three and a half years younger than me. I keep pulling his leg, I say, 'Have you had a check recently, because it's your turn next? Beware. Beware.' So you know, it hasn't bothered me, I've just assumed that's the reason, and if I had looked after myself a lot better, you know possibly I would have delayed the onset of it, although I probably wouldn't have enjoyed myself so much.
Nasir was told his diabetes was probably hereditary but he says he's also been overweight for...
Nasir was told his diabetes was probably hereditary but he says he's also been overweight for...
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But were you do, well what kind of weight did you have at that time?
I've always struggled with my weight but I think at that time I was probably about thirteen stone or so which is, you know, maybe two, three stone overweight. But I did have a bit of a sweet tooth, you know, I won't lie about that, I certainly enjoy my chocolates and my drinks and stuff. But they never really came up with a definitive answer why you've got it, and I think they were just more concerned with the fact right you have got it, let's try and treat it, you know, it doesn't matter how you got it really at the end of the day, if you've got it, they didn't really go into it in too much detail about, how, why, where, you know, it came from. It would be good to know but I suppose at the end of the day it's, to a certain extent it's irrelevant how it got there it's the fact is you've got it.
Mrs Patel and five of her siblings have diabetes which they inherited from their father.
Mrs Patel and five of her siblings have diabetes which they inherited from their father.
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My answer? It must be genetic from the parents, you see. You see one thing is our lifestyle has changed by living in cities as well. One reason is maybe our lifestyle, the second is our food, what we used to eat before and what we are eating now. Lot of variation in food as well. So that maybe the reason and genetic. Because father had it so you pass on to us as well.
Are you worried that your children will get it?
Yeah we [are], I am, because we both are diabetic.
You and your Husband?
Husband.
The people we talked to had different ideas about what might have caused diabetes. Many believed that a family history of diabetes had predisposed them to the condition, others said it was caused by a combination of factors which included being overweight, being a heavy smoker or drinker, and not having done much exercise for years. Some people said that eating too much over many years hadn't affected them until they became middle-aged and had stopped being so active. Eating too much of the wrong kind of food and 'comfort' eating were said by several people to have contributed to their diabetes (see 'Food, Eating and Diet').
Duncan thinks that his old habits of eating lots of takeaways and heavy drinking may have caused...
Duncan thinks that his old habits of eating lots of takeaways and heavy drinking may have caused...
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But I knew I used to teach alcohol awareness at school, so I couldn't say I didn't know that I was drinking too much, and I couldn't say I didn't know that not taking enough exercise was bad for me. So to that extent, I may be don't feel as miserable as I would do, if I had been struck down by something that I had been responsible for.
And if I, I mean it sounds pretty bad to say that if I did sort of pop off tomorrow then, because I had eaten or drunk or whatever too much for sixty one years, then at least I had sixty one good years. So to that extent I am not too bothered.
Isabel blames many aspects of her former lifestyle for her diabetes.
Isabel blames many aspects of her former lifestyle for her diabetes.
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Well it's the failure of the sugar to be absorbed by your insulin. You, the body to produce enough insulin to absorb the sugar and convert it into whatever it is that's supposed to then excrete it. And I know that there's a lot of research on talking about insulin-resistant cells in your body, and there's quite a breakthrough, that recently has been made about that. So if it comes up in the newspapers I am always interested in it, you know I want to read more about it.
Do you think there's anything that might pre-dispose you? Any factors?
Fair, White and 40, or in this case 60, you know I think I must be a classic case for having, for getting diabetes' I'm indolent, I don't exercise as much as other people, I'm very overweight and I eat too much. And I think that pre-disposed me towards diabetes, too much sugar in my diet, too much fat.
Alex thinks his drink problems played a part in causing his diabetes.
Alex thinks his drink problems played a part in causing his diabetes.
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Well we don't need to be 'Brain of Britain' to know you shouldn't be drinking alcohol if you're diabetic, but so I've got the added problem that having the, I suppose being alcoholic and having diabetes is another concerning issue, and one I have to have a strong mental defence against, and at this moment in time it's fine, I'm glad to say. So that's another issue that goes along with the peripheral neuropathy and the diabetes. And I also had a mini-stroke back in 2002, and I don't think it's anything to do with diabetes, but it was also another problem for my' Well the ability I suppose is the best way of putting it.
Other illnesses or health conditions, particularly having high blood pressure and high cholesterol, were also seen as contributory factors in diabetes. Some people we talked to had comorbidities (other illnesses) which had made it difficult for them to take regular exercise.
Andy doesn't know exactly what caused his diabetes but says that chronic pain has always made...
Andy doesn't know exactly what caused his diabetes but says that chronic pain has always made...
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Interestingly I had for four months from January through to at the end of April, I joined the gym and I was going swimming every other day. And I gave that up simply because my joints were just hurting more and more. It wasn't actually, whilst I felt my chest improving, the rest of my body felt so much worse' In hindsight I just wonder whether that was the diabetes coming on. But I didn't get any, I didn't feel any benefits from the exercise, so I gave that up as a bad idea.
It seemed like a sensible thing to do so I gave it a go, joined the gym. I can't use the gym equipment but they've got a swimming pool, so I'd go every morning before, every other morning, before work go and do sort of fifteen to twenty minutes in the pool. Didn't help - gave that up' I'm not suggesting that starting exercise triggered the diabetes at all, but it's just I had done some exercise and I felt the benefit in my chest, and breathing became easier' But, no I didn't feel the benefit anywhere else and my joints ached.
I know that I was perfectly fine December 2005. Six months later I'm diabetic - very - now, did I get a virus? I don't know. Nobody's ever tried to find out where I got it from. I'm not overweight. I'm 6'2' and fifteen and a half stone - I could do with losing about a stone but I'm not hugely overweight. I'm a little bit overweight. I don't sit down and do absolutely nothing, I just don't do a lot of exercise because of the [chronic] pain.
Others wondered if having too much stress in their lives either through life events or because of pressure at work could have triggered diabetes. Others said that having a 'sedentary' job which included working at a computer screen all day or driving for a living could be partly to blame for their diabetes.
Lawrence has wondered about the causes of his diabetes and thinks that a series of stressful...
Lawrence has wondered about the causes of his diabetes and thinks that a series of stressful...
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Without wanting to pry into that, was it severe stress over a long period of time?
Well I wouldn't say over a very long period of time, but it was certainly over, you know it was a series of events over a short period of time, because you know I'd just lost my parents, and we were having problems with our visa renewals, and because of that my wife had stopped working for a while, so financially we were under severe pressure, so I'm just' Because I traced you know, my life back and that's the only period I could think of that I could have gone through stress, but other than that I've no idea, I've no idea.
Stuart drives a taxi for a living and feels it hasn't helped with his diabetes.
Stuart drives a taxi for a living and feels it hasn't helped with his diabetes.
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But it's the exercise part that suffers in taxi driving because I can't wander too far from the car, and I can't sort of get out for a walk at a quiet period because I've got to be close to the radio. So it is difficult. So therefore exercise in an evening, going out for a walk is important. Although I don't do that very often. But I do in a morning do sit-ups and I've got some weights at home that I use, just for 20 minutes each morning. So I'll do some sit-ups and some weights just to, you know, try and exercise a little bit. But it's the cardiovascular stuff that I miss out on.
Helen was under stress at work and wonders if too much adrenaline pumping round her body might...
Helen was under stress at work and wonders if too much adrenaline pumping round her body might...
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Yes. Not, 'Woe is me' and, 'Why me?' Because I mean that's just life. I don't know again too much about the current research and how much they feel that diabetes is maybe an auto-immune problem. I know they checked me out for auto-immune because I've had problems before with, I had hair loss, which was an auto-immune, and I also had you know, loads of allergies. And they did check me out and they said, 'No, it wasn't auto-immune.' So that's, I've put that aside. But because I've got an auto-immune problem within my own child, that had to be checked out. But that's the one thing I really would like to know really, where mine came from? What it is - did I just overload my system?
I mean there's a lot of research that I've read that said that having the adrenalin gland constantly pumping. And certainly with the kind of pressurised job, with the lifestyle I liked to lead, I was always on the go and was pumping all the time. I was aware of that.
I would have said I was on overdrive for six months, I mean really overdrive, trying to run a school in two-thirds of a building, too many people, staff stressed out their minds. Then go back into a building where they'd taken down roofs and we'd to clear up. I mean it was just, it was six months of hell. And that was only, that was in 2000/2001, so it wasn't long before. And I can look back and say, you know, I started to feel not so much energy after that. Again, you don't know. But I really, oh, that's the one thing I would like to know. Is there a family connection? They don't know. I mean one's a, that's my mother's cousin, which is kind of out there, and one's a great-aunt, which is out here. Is it to do with adrenalin stress? I don't know.
Growing up in a stressful environment had also made some women develop eating disorders including bulimia. Several women linked their current weight problems with early childhood experiences of abuse and bullying which meant that they had taken comfort in food and/or alcohol at an early age.
Kay talks about her childhood, the abuse she experienced and the effect that had on her weight.
Kay talks about her childhood, the abuse she experienced and the effect that had on her weight.
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Initially Zoe thought that her weight loss was a sign of diabetes.
Initially Zoe thought that her weight loss was a sign of diabetes.
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But I didn't know at the time I was the only, I thought I was the only one in the family, since I've found out I'm diabetic that I found out my mother, my father, my sister, everyone else is diabetic in the family, my grandma was diabetic. But it's just really strange how afterwards that we found out, that's what I've, I found myself lucky to be the first one to find out. But I started off with what they called 'old age diabetes', what they told me [laughs], and I was like well.
Was it type 2 diabetes?
Yeh [laughs].
I know that sounds really silly I just, I think as a kid I did become bulimic because of my weight. And I can remember going to see doctors and, you know, there was a time I used to have to sing when I went to the toilet and people used to have to, you know, hear me, listen to me just to make sure I wasn't being sick. And I can go a long time still to this day of eating and I could actually bring that food up the next day, of holding it... But I think it's just something that's built into me, you know, the more you eat the bigger you get. I don't, I don't know how not to be sick now. It's like a natural, every day, yeah so it doesn't bother me [laughs].
Eating too much of the 'wrong thing' such as food that was rich in sugar, salt, fats and having a habit of drinking fizzy 'pop' or fruit juice as opposed to water was also said by the people we interviewed to lead to diabetes. Eating sweets and sugar does not cause diabetes, but eating a lot of sugary and fatty foods can lead to being overweight which is a risk factor.
Not everyone was interested in what had caused their diabetes and said that what mattered more was accepting the diagnosis and getting to grips with what it would mean for them in the long-term. A few people said they had no idea why they had developed diabetes and wondered if glandular problems or an unknown virus may have been responsible.
He feels resigned to having diabetes and prefers to focus on controlling it as much as possible.
He feels resigned to having diabetes and prefers to focus on controlling it as much as possible.
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Oh yeah. I wonder all the time, you think 'why me?' Probably it's like, it's probably like any other disease. If somebody goes to the hospital and they say you have got cancer, they say why me? But you can't answer it. There is no answer to it, it's you. It could have been your lifestyle. It could be inherited from your family. It could be through stress. It could be through anything. But you can't say how did I get it? Because you don't know. So you've just got to live with it. And that's it. You are diabetic. End of story. And there's nothing you do about it. You can worry about it as much as you like, you've got it and that is it. So you've just got to live with it, get on with it. Yes, you do. I mean when he said to me, you know, 'You have got sugar.' You think, 'Oh why me? What have I done, to deserve this?' You probably haven't done anything. It's probably like they say they jump a generation. Probably your grandparents had it. Perhaps you grandparents didn't have it. You might be the first of the family ever to have it. It could be from anything.
Last reviewed March 2016.
Last updated March 2016.
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