Is type 2 diabetes mild or severe?
What genes cause type 2 diabetes? are they dominant or recessive?
Is type 2 diabetes more common in females or males? why is this?
Does type 2 diabetes skip generations?
THANK-YOU :)

Having diabetes is a binary situation, you can not have mild diabetes just like you can not be mildly pregnant.

Nobody knows what causes diabetes, or how it works, or how it is genetically passed. That is still under research and debate, It is just assumed that if there is history of anyone in the family suffering from diabetes that everyone else is potentially at risk.

Type 2 is both genetic & life style.



Diabetes is caused by a problem in the way ur body makes or uses insulin. Insulin is needed to move glucose (blood sugar) into cells, where it is used for energy.

If glucose does not get into the cells, the body cannot use it for energy. Too much glucose will then remain in the blood, causing the symptoms of diabetes.

There r several types of diabetes. This article focuses on type 2, which is usually accompanied by obesity & insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance means that insulin produced by ur pancreas cannot get inside fat & muscle cells to produce energy. Since the cells r not getting the insulin they need, the pancreas produces more & more. Over time, abnormally high levels of sugar build up in the blood. This is called hyperglycemia. Many people with insulin resistance have hyperglycemia & high blood insulin levels at the same time. People who r overweight have a higher risk of insulin resistance, because fat interferes with the body is ability to use insulin.

Type 2 diabetes usually occurs gradually. Most people with the disease r overweight at the time of diagnosis. However, type 2 diabetes can also develop in those who r thin, especially the elderly.

Family history & genetics play a large role in type 2 diabetes. Low activity level, poor diet, & excess body weight (especially around the waist) significantly increase ur risk for type 2 diabetes.

Other risk factors include:

Race/ethnicity (African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, & Native Americans all have high rates of diabetes)
Age greater than 45 years
Previously identified impaired glucose tolerance by ur doctor
High blood pressure
HDL cholesterol of less than 35 mg/dL or triglyceride level of greater than 250 mg/dL
History of gestational diabetes

Type 2 diabetes occurs on a continuum of insulin resistance. Some people r diet & exercise controlled diabetics who r only mildly insulin resistance & done need medication.

Other type 2 is have to be on huge amounts of insulin.

Its a progressive disease, but the speed at which it progresses can be slowed with good diet & exercise habits.

And the genetics r largely unknown. We know there had to be two factors present for a person to be diabetic. The genetic component, & the environmental component.

So if u have family members with diabetes, but u stay a healthy weight, then u have the genes, but not the environment, so chances r u wont get diabetes.

Surprise, type 2 does NOT skip generations. This is a common misconception about both types of diabetes. Diabetes can be worse for some than others. In some cases it gets worse because the person does not control their disease well. In others, it is just because the disease itself can be very hard to control, type 2 can be much harder to control much of the time. This is because most type 2 patients r on oral medications. They have to rely heavily on how & what they eat. If they get high readings during the day, they must use exercise to bring it down in most cases. There r just slightly more females than males with type 2 diabetes. The disease is more predominant in blacks, latinos, & native americans among some of the the ethnic groups to have higher cases of diabetes. A mutation of the Beta3-adrenegic receptor gene is thought to be the most likely known cause of type 2 diabetes, although it is probably not the only cause. Genetics does play a very large roll in type 2 diabetes, & can also be a large factor in type 1. Type 2 diabetes is very serious, although some people (those that do not have a clue about it) will say it is very insignificant. Type 2 diabetes can kill just as type 1 can. It can cause kidney failure, heart disease, heart attack, stroke, limb amputations, all the very same things that type 1 does. It is no less a danger than type 1. l personally know many type 2 (from my diabetes educational classes) that r very ill with their type 2 diabetes. l know some that have had to have amputations. l know one that is blind. Type two diabetes can be controlled, a person just has to be willing to make the sacrifices & actually want to do it. There r those that do not pay attention to diet. All diabetics must watch their diets & take their medications as directed. Of course most know that type 1 diabetics must take insulin injections every day. Many type 2 must do the same thing because their pancreas has stopped producing the needed amount of insulin, sometimes none at all. (this is still type 2, though, It does not become type 1 as some think.) Type 2 diabetes can NOT be cured. It can sometimes, in certain type 2 diabetics, be controlled by diet & exercise for many years. But because it is a progressive disease, they usually end up taking medication later in life. Not all type 2 diabetics can control their disease by diet & exercise, although there is much misinformation going around, & some people actually believe that all type 2 is can control this way. It is not true. Neither type of diabetes can be cured except by a pancreas transplant. Many people think that type 2 can be reversed or cured. This is a completely false statement. There is only good control, once u stop controlling it, u will have all the symptoms back, because u STILL have the diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is NOT caused by being overweight, or by eating too much sugar or too many carbs. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet & many of the blogs r full of it. People with very bad advice & information just keep passing it on. Many of the diabetic web sites r very dated & the information is old & unreliable, too. Make sure u have an updated site if u check out the web.