Obesity and Type 2 diabetes have a great bond. Both are interrelated with each other. More than 85% people all over the world who are overweight suffer from diabetes. Overweight forms an important factor for the causation of Type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes results from the dysfunction of the pancreas. In human body pancreas secrete a hormone called insulin that helps in metabolism of carbohydrates and fats and helps in utilization of glucose by body cells. In type 2 there is always a decrease in insulin resistance. The precise cause of type 2 remains unknown, but in most cases it is a very slow process. When pancreas stop working properly or there is some disease related with pancreatic cells, it may lead to diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes can occur after the age of 20. It is mostly seen in people with sedentary life style and with little physical activity, family history of diabetes, intake of medications, stress, junk food, overweight etc. A laboratory glucose concentration is required to diagnose diabetes.
Age and ethnicity are the most important factors in determining the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Studies show that risk of developing this disease increases with increasing age. In most of the countries all over the world there is little difference in prevalence between men and women, but in some the male prevalence is slightly higher. The number of people with diabetes is increasing in most developed and developing countries. The greatest increase in prevalence is occurring in Asia, but all areas of the world are affected. Major contributory factors in developing countries are the rapid changes in diet and physical activity that lead to significant obesity. Increasing wealth, improved food supplies and less reliance on hard physical labour to earn a living are important factors in leading to obesity. Most people with type 2 have several features of the metabolic syndrome.
Being overweight makes a person more resistant to their own insulin and the pancreas has to work harder to produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels in the normal range. In some susceptible people, especially those with a family history of diabetes, the strain of the extra weight on the pancreas leads to exhaustion of the organ with time and too little insulin is secreted that leads to the development of diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disorder with insulin secretion. Insulin resistance changes very little unless there are major changes in life style or body weight.
How obesity and type 2 diabetes are interrelated to each other?
There is a great connection between obesity and type 2 diabetes. People who are overweight are more prone to suffer from this disease. People with increased weight can reduce their weight by doing simple exercise which can also help them to control their blood sugar levels. Small degree of weight loss can have major benefits in many areas such as it can help to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and death due to diabetes. It is essential that the patient should be motivated to reduce weight. In obese patients, weight loss combined with an exercise programme can substantially reduce progression to diabetes.
Exercise that can help to reduce weight should include fast walking, cycling, gym or swimming. Most important thing that you should feel while doing exercise is that you should enjoy it. You can involve your family members with you for going on a walk, playing games etc.
Everyone with diabetes has their personnel thinking about the disease with which they have to live every day. Successful management depends on acceptance of the condition and learning to take control. Asking the patient to monitor their own diabetes is the first step in this. Once confidence develops, most will experiment with diet to see the effects of eating both the right and wrong types of food and of exercise and stress on their control. Improved control of diabetes can only occur when the patient himself/herself is involved in the process. Diabetes is a disease that differs in its permanent nature and the enormous extent of personal involvement required every day. They include the patient's relationship, outlook on life and daily stresses.
Risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be reduced by taking low calorie, low fat diet combined with physical activity of moderate intensity. Thus people with family history of diabetes and who are slightly overweight can prevent the disease by taking low fat, low calorie diet with little exercise. Little change in one's lifestyle can help to reduce the prevalence of diabetes all over the world. It is the need of the hour to aware people about their life style changes so that they can reduce the risk of developing this disease by making little changes in their life and can live a healthy life.
