Diabetes mellitus: causes

“Why did I have diabetes specifically?” – this question is especially relevant for patients who have disciplined to observe the most stringent principles of proper nutrition until the onset of the disease. The parental edification that has been remembered by many since childhood “you don’t eat a lot of sweets, otherwise you will get sick with diabetes”, in fact, has quite conventional grounds. Diabetes mellitus, regardless of its type, is a complex and multifactorial pathology that can occur due to a number of objective and not always interrelated causes.  

Type 1 diabetes: the nature of the disease

The occurrence of type 1 diabetes is most often due to the influence of the following factors:

• Genetic predisposition. If it is present, viral infectious diseases – ARVI, mumps, enterovirus, rubella, etc. can act as a catalyst for the development of the disease.
• The presence in the human blood of various kinds of specific antibodies to beta proteins.
• Immune system disorders.
• Endocrine diseases (including – acromegaly, Cushing’s syndrome, glucagon, pancreatic pathology).
• Dysfunctional ecology.
• Stress factor.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus: the main causes of the disease

The most common risk factors for type 2 diabetes include:

• lack of physical activity;
• overweight, obesity;
• age factor (studies show that the likelihood of developing the disease increases in people who have crossed the 40-45-year-old boundary);
• the presence of a family history of the disease (diagnosed cases of diabetes mellitus in the immediate blood relatives);
• prediabetic condition (moderate but steadily elevated blood sugar).

Causes of diabetes in children

If a child is diagnosed with diabetes, the causes of the disease may lie in a hereditary predisposition. Another risk factor is considered to be increased (over 4.5 kg) weight in the newborn. In order to prevent pathology, such children need special dietary nutrition. Particular attention of parents, regardless of the weight and general health of the baby, requires children’s immunity: frequent viral diseases can, among other things, lead to the development of diabetes in the child. 

In addition to the above reasons, the disease can provoke malnutrition, toxic effects of certain medications, an unfavorable environmental factor, and acute or chronic stress.