Is Type 2 Diabetes Caused by Hereditary Factors?

There are several factors that can be the cause of type 2 diabetes, from lifestyle and eating patterns. However, many think that type 2 diabetes is caused by hereditary factors. So, is it true that one of the causes of type 2 diabetes is descent from parents?

Genetic factors and causes of type 2 diabetes
If you are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, try looking at your family’s health history. In fact, heredity can be one of the risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people who:

1 in 7 people are at risk of developing diabetes, if one of their parents is diagnosed before the age of 50 years
1 in 13 people are at risk of developing diabetes, if one of their parents is diagnosed after age 50
1 in 2 people get diabetes, if both parents have diabetes

But not all causes of type 2 diabetes are genetic factors. The main risk factors for type 2 diabetes are obesity and a bad lifestyle. Some gene mutations have been touted as a risk trigger for type 2 diabetes.

However, none of these genes cause diabetes by itself. Instead, they interact with other factors, for example, poisons, viruses, and foods that can increase your risk of developing diabetes.

Genetic mutation
Researchers have linked several gene mutations to a higher risk of diabetes. Not all mutation carriers will get diabetes. However, many people with diabetes have one or more of these mutations.

Lifestyle and family derivatives
It will be difficult to separate lifestyle risk from genetic risk. Lifestyle choices tend to be influenced also in the family. Passive parents, like being lazy to exercise for example, tend to have passive children too.

Parents with unhealthy diets are likely to reduce it to the next generation. On the other hand, genetics has a big role in determining body weight.

What genes are responsible for the emergence of type 2 diabetes?
The American Diabetes Association study found a gene in twins that showed type 2 diabetes. But this study was debated because of environmental influences that also affected the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Until now, many gene mutations have been shown to affect the risk of type 2 diabetes. The contribution of each gene in general is indeed small. However, each gene mutation can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes

In general, there are several mutations in the genes that control your diabetes risk:

glucose production
insulin production
how the glucose level is felt by the body
insulin regulation
The genes associated with type 2 diabetes include:

TCF7L2, a gene that affects insulin secretion and glucose production
sulfonylurea urea receptor (ABCC8), a gene that helps regulate insulin
calpain 10, a gene associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes in Mexican-Americans
glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2), which helps glucose move to the pancreas
glucagon receptor (GCGR), the glucagon hormone involved in glucose regulation
What are the tests for type 2 diabetes?
There are several genetic tests that can be done to detect the symptoms of type 2 diabetes in your body. However, the increased risk for gene mutations is small. Other factors are far more accurate in predicting the emergence of type 2 diabetes, including those seen from:

body mass index (BMI)
family history
high blood pressure
increase in triglycerides and cholesterol levels
history of gestational diabetes
So, what causes type 2 diabetes?
The interaction between genetic and environmental factors can make the body more difficult to control the real cause of type 2 diabetes. But that does not mean you cannot reduce risk.

There is strong evidence to support the fact that lifestyle changes can reduce the development of type 2 diabetes.

Health experts also often recommend weight loss and increase physical activity to prevent type 2 diabetes. Keeping blood sugar levels at normal levels can also prevent you from developing diabetes.

Pancreatic Transplant Cure Diabetes

Diabetes is a progressive disease, which means it will get worse with time. Until now, there is no medicine that can cure diabetes completely. Even so, that does not mean someone with diabetes cannot have normal blood sugar levels. Even if it can’t be cured, diabetes can still be controlled. That means we can control blood sugar levels that flow in the body.

Controlling diabetes can be done by taking drugs and injecting insulin. However, before these two things are done, living a healthy lifestyle is the main step in controlling diabetes. Maintaining food intake and exercising diligently is proven to be able to control high blood sugar in diabetics.

When a person has diabetes, they usually have a disruption in producing insulin. The pancreas, as an insulin-producing organ, does not have the ability to produce insulin to spread to the body. This is caused by poor lifestyle in type two diabetes or because of autoimmune damage (in type 1 diabetes). In fact, insulin is needed to help enter glucose into the body so that it can be broken down into energy to carry out various activities.

Can diabetes be cured?
As explained earlier, diabetes cannot be cured, it can only be controlled. Even though it cannot be cured, type two diabetes patients can get rid of insulin injection dependence or drinking drugs by maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle. Unfortunately, not with type 1 diabetics.

Type 1 diabetics cannot escape insulin dependence. This is caused by beta cells in the pancreas which must be responsible for producing insulin which is damaged so that it is unable to produce insulin. As a result, the insulin supply for people with type 1 diabetes must be obtained from the outside, namely by injecting insulin.

However, in line with the development of increasingly advanced health technology, type 1 diabetics can begin to smile because of the emergence of new hopes for achieving recovery from diabetes. Healing for people with type 1 diabetes can be obtained through pancreatic transplantation. By performing a pancreatic transplant procedure, type 1 diabetes patients can be completely released from insulin injection dependence.

Who can do the pancreatic transplant procedure?
According to the American Diabetes Association, the pancreatic transplant procedure is the recommended treatment for people with type 1 diabetes. Although it provides positive results for type 1 diabetes, this procedure is not commonly used in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes occurs because the failure of the pancreas produces the amount of insulin needed by the body or doesn’t even produce insulin at all. Although it has been diagnosed since childhood, type 1 diabetes patients usually do not immediately carry out this procedure. This is due to the risk of the operation that follows it.

As reported by Detik Health, a surgical consultant from Singapore General Hospital, Dr. Victor Lee explained, “Actually even without the pancreas the patient can still live. He can get an injection of insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. But clearly the quality of his life will be very disturbed. Moreover, diabetes is a major cause of kidney failure so patients need regular dialysis. “

How is this procedure done?
The process of pancreatic transplantation is done by relying on the organs of a deceased donor. Even though it is a recommended alternative, not all type 1 diabetes patients can immediately perform this procedure.

The procedure for pancreatic transplantation can be done if the type 1 diabetes suffered is accompanied by complications in the kidney. That way, the patient will immediately undergo two transplants at once, the pancreas and kidney. Also to be considered, those who are obese, HIV / AIDS, have a history of cancer, and consume alcohol and cigarettes cannot undergo this procedure.

To perform a pancreatic and kidney transplant procedure together, several tests are needed first. One of them is a match test between the donor organ and the donor recipient’s body. The pancreatic and kidney organs obtained from the same donor have a lower risk of rejection. Although they have little risk of undergoing this transplant, the benefits that can be brought more, such as controlled blood sugar without consumption of insulin, repair of the nervous system that has been damaged, to avoid the risk of diabetes complications.

This procedure itself was first popular in the American and European regions. Doctor Victor Lee is the first doctor known to be able to perform a pancreatic transplant procedure in Singapore.

Why Diabetes Patients Can’t Drink Soft Drinks?

Living with diabetes requires you to really pay attention to food and drink intake. Especially in foods or drinks that contain sugar. This soft drink, which can be found easily, is one of the drinks that need to be watched out. Why is soft drink a drink for diabetes that should be avoided? Come on, see the following review.

Danger of drinking soft drinks for diabetics
Who doesn’t like soft drinks? This drink is always a mainstay when you are traveling or holding a certain event. Even though it tastes fresh, tasty, and practical, soft drinks are actually not good for your health. Reporting from Medical News Today, a study shows that drinking too much sweet or carbonated drinks can cause a person more at risk of developing diabetes.

The various types of soft drinks you drink, give the body extra energy in the form of fat if not used. This can make you overweight and eventually get obese. Obese people are very vulnerable to type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. That’s why many health experts advise healthy people to reduce their soft drink drinking habits. Especially for diabetics (diabetics) are very sensitive and need to be careful with all sugary foods and drinks.

Soft drinks contain sugar, coloring, preservatives, and some of them are added with soda. The sweet taste of soft drinks shows that this drink contains high sugar so that it belongs to the type of drink with a high glycemic index. That is, it contains carbohydrates that are quickly digested by the body, making blood sugar levels soar rapidly.

Blood sugar levels in your body affect the hormone insulin. This hormone is produced by the pancreas and is responsible for regulating your blood sugar levels to normal. When blood sugar levels rise quickly, more insulin is needed.

In the long term, this condition can create pancreatic fatigue and eventually cause glucose intolerance and develop into diabetes. Of course diabetes will become more severe or experience complications, if you consume high-sugar drinks such as soft drinks.

Other types of drinks that should also be avoided

Actually not only soft drinks, there are many types of drinks that contain high sugar which are very risky if taken by diabetics, such as energy drinks and alcohol. Energy drinks contain high carbohydrates and caffeine, while alcohol contains high carbohydrates. Both can increase blood sugar quickly and insulin resistance, making the condition of patients with diabetes worse.

The American Diabetic Association (ADA) recommends low-calorie drinks for diabetics so that blood sugar surges can be prevented, body weight stays under control, and certainly relieves symptoms. So, the best choice of drinks for diabetes is water. Take it easy, diabetics can still enjoy tea, coffee, and juices rich in antioxidants and vitamins that are very dear if missed.

As long as all of your drinks are made and made by yourself, not packaging. That is, you can adjust the sugar used, such as choosing not to use sugar at all or using sugar that is low in calories. Don’t forget, always check your health with your doctor as a way to control the diabetes you have.

Know Your Foot Diabetes, Various Complications of Diabetes in Your Feet

High blood sugar in people with diabetes can cause many complications. One complication that is often considered trivial is diabetic foot. In diabetics, this complication can make wounds and ulcers on the feet more difficult to heal. How did it happen? Check out all information about diabetic feet in this article.

What is diabetic foot?
Diabetic foot, also known as diabetic foot / diabetic foot, is a condition that describes various complications of nerve system damage to the feet due to diabetes.

Diabetes reduces the body’s ability to process the wound healing. This slow wound healing condition can cause the infection to get worse. Over time, people with diabetes can experience foot problems that cannot be cured and this condition can make the leg amputated.

One common diabetic foot problem is calluses. Although calluses may not seem alarming, if left unchecked, this condition can turn into ulcers or open wounds. People with diabetes are also at risk of developing Charcot, a condition in which the joints that support weight are progressively damaged, causing a loss of bone motion.

What causes foot diabetes?
Uncontrolled blood sugar levels in people with diabetes can cause nerves in the body to numb and lose sensation due to nerve damage. This is why people with diabetes neuropathy cannot feel pain like other normal people, who do not experience nerve damage. If the wound is not immediately examined and the infection suddenly becomes very serious, eventually amputation is needed.

People with diabetes can also experience poor blood circulation conditions on their feet, which slow down the healing process when their legs get hurt. Any wound that is slowly cured can increase the risk of infection, because bacteria can easily enter open wounds and cut wounds.

Routinely checking your feet is a very important part of treating diabetes. Unfortunately, according to an article published in the journal Diabetic Medicine, around 23-63 percent of patients rarely check their legs or even have their legs examined at all.

In fact, checking your feet is an important part of treating and preventing diabetes complications.

How can I prevent foot complications?
In addition to eating healthy foods to control blood sugar, there are several steps that diabetics can take to prevent foot complications. To increase blood flow to the lower body parts, diabetics must walk regularly using shoes that are right on the feet, comfortable and closed. If necessary, you can also buy diabetic shoes that are now on the market. Exercising also reduces hypertension and makes weight loss very important for blood circulation.

Check your feet regularly for any changes, including pain, sores, or skin ulcers. Open wounds, scratches, or foot injuries should be reported to the doctor immediately. To keep your feet healthy, follow these tips:

Check your feet every day, including between your toes.
Visit a doctor if you see cuts, open wounds, deep sores, ulcers, redness, swelling, hot or defective areas.

Don’t walk barefoot, even around the house. Small wounds can turn out to be a big problem. Walking on hot sidewalks without shoes can cause damage that might not be felt.
Don’t smoke, because it narrows blood vessels and contributes to poor blood circulation.
Keep your feet clean and dry, Don’t soak your feet. Dry your feet; do not rub.
Moisturize after cleaning, but not between toes.

Avoid hot water; check the temperature of the pool water with your hands, not your feet.
Cut toenails after bathing. Cut straight and then smooth with a nail file gently. Check the sharp edges and cuticles that have never been cut.

Use pumice to relieve calluses. Never cut off calluses yourself, or use chemical drugs on the market.
Visit a podiatrist for additional nails and fine care.
Wear shoes properly and fibrous socks (for example, cotton or wool). Don’t wear new shoes for more than one hour at a time and check your feet carefully after removing your shoes. Check in your shoes for areas that stand out or have other objects before you wear them.

Avoid high heels and shoes with pointed ends.
If your feet are cold, warm them with socks.
Shake your toes and move your ankles while sitting, especially for long periods of time.
Don’t cross your legs, because this can inhibit blood flow.
Keep your feet and lift your legs if you have an injury.

The possibility for diabetics to avoid foot complications can occur if they are diligent and maintain healthy blood sugar levels. However, daily foot checks are also important.

4 Ways to Overcome Diabetes You Can Do Everyday

Diabetes is not a disease that can be cured. But that does not mean you feel hopeless. If you have diabetes, that does not mean you can no longer laugh with friends or family. You can still watch movies on Sundays or go somewhere that is fun without worry. The key is only one, you only need to maintain your blood sugar level. What can you do everyday to treat diabetes? You will know in this article.

How do you deal with your diabetes everyday?
Initially it may be difficult when the doctor says that you have diabetes. You will feel confused about the treatment and care that you have to do to keep your blood sugar normal.

Take it easy, you are not alone, there are family, friends, medical personnel consisting of doctors, nurses, and nutritionists who will help you. Bring one or two members of your family to do periodic checks. Make sure you understand everything you need to know about treatments that can overcome your diabetes.

1. Eat healthy food
Actually, your food is almost the same as all people who don’t have diabetes. The difference is that your food is more arranged by them. Healthy eating patterns every day are almost the same as medical nutrition therapy.

Eating healthy foods is intended to always eat nutritious, low-fat and calorie foods so you can control your blood sugar levels. What foods should you eat everyday to treat diabetes?

Foods made from whole grains or complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, baked potatoes, oatmeal, bread and cereals from whole grains.

Replace your sugar with a low-calorie sweetener and contain chromium to improve insulin function in the body, thus helping diabetics to control blood sugar.

Lean meat steamed, boiled, roasted and burned.

Vegetables are processed by boiling, steaming, baking or raw consumption. Vegetables that are good for diabetics include broccoli and spinach.

Fresh fruits. If you want to make juice, you shouldn’t add sugar.

Nuts, including soybeans in the form of steamed tofu, are cooked for soup and sauteed.

Fresh popcorn.

Low fat dairy products and eggs.

Fish such as tuna, salmon, sardines and mackerel.

Then what are the benefits for diabetics following a regular healthy diet?

You can maintain weight, keep blood sugar levels normal, and prevent heart disease that is vulnerable in diabetic patients, moreover this method can overcome your diabetes.

Tips if you use insulin

Inject your insulin.
Eat the same amount of food every day at almost the same time.
Don’t skip meals, especially if you have received an insulin injection. If you miss it, your blood sugar level will drop.
Tips if you don’t use insulin

Adhere to the diet given.
Don’t skip meals, especially if you are taking diabetes (OHO) hypoglycemic drugs. If you miss it, your blood sugar level will drop.
Skipping time can make you eat too much in the next hour and can cause your blood sugar levels to drop.
2. Regular exercise
You may have overheard and even felt bored if exercise is good for your health. However, you really should not underestimate it, the benefits of regular exercise for diabetics is to help keep weight down, insulin can more easily reduce blood sugar, help the heart and lungs work better and give you more energy. This simple way can overcome your diabetes.

You don’t need to be too heavy. You can start walking, swimming, cycling near your house, taking dance classes, diligently cleaning the house, or starting a hobby of gardening is a good idea so you stay active.

Try exercising at least three times a week for around 30 to 45 minutes. If you are the type of person who rarely sports, try 5 to 10 minutes at the beginning of the sport, from here later you can increase the time.

If your blood sugar level is less than 100-120, eat an apple or a glass of milk before you exercise. When you are exercising, bring snacks so that your blood sugar does not drop.

Tips if you use insulin

Exercise after eating, not before eating.
Test your blood sugar before, during, and after exercise. Don’t exercise if your blood sugar level is low, less than 70.
Avoid exercising before bed because it can cause your blood sugar to drop at night.
Tips if you don’t use insulin

See your doctor, if you intend to join a fitness class or exercise training program.
Your blood sugar test before and after exercise if you take diabetes medication. Make sure your blood sugar is not lower than 70.

3. Test your blood sugar every day
Regular monitoring of blood sugar levels is the main way to deal with diabetes and keep your blood sugar levels normal. This check will tell you your blood glucose level in real time or right away. You should have a tool to check blood sugar levels at home.

You can use a blood sugar test kit called a glucometer. The following are instructions on how to use it:

After washing hands, put the test strip into the blood sugar measuring instrument.
Punch the fingertips with the needle provided to remove blood.
Squeeze or massage a finger until blood comes out (the size of the blood sample needed varies depending on the measuring instrument).
Hold and hold the tip of the test strip until blood drips on the test strip, and wait for the results.
Blood glucose levels will appear on the measuring instrument screen.
The blood sugar level in the body changes, especially before and after eating. Normal blood sugar level before meals 70-130 mg / dL, while after eight hours fasting should be less than 100 mg / dL. Then, blood sugar levels two hours after eating should be less than 180 mg / dL and before bedtime ranges from 100-140 mg / dL.

The amount of blood sugar levels can describe your health condition. High blood sugar levels are considered a sign that your body’s condition is not healthy. Record blood sugar levels every time you check blood sugar levels.

4. Make sure you always take medication or inject insulin
Although diabetes cannot be cured, early detection allows blood sugar levels in diabetics to be controlled. The goal of diabetes treatment is to treat diabetes, maintain a balance of blood sugar levels and minimize the risk of complications.

The right medicines to treat Type 2 Diabetes

The balance of blood sugar levels in diabetes sometimes cannot be maintained properly only through the application of a healthy diet and regular exercise. You might also need medication to handle it.

There are several types of drugs (usually in tablet form) that can be used for type 2 diabetes (oral hypoglycemic drugs). You may also be given a combination of two or more drugs to control your blood sugar levels. The drugs commonly given are metformin, sulfonylurea, pioglitazone, gliptin, agonists, acarbose, nateglinide and repaglinide

Insulin therapy as a companion to other medicines

Medicines in tablet form may be less effective for treating diabetes, so you need insulin therapy. Based on the dosage and method of use, this therapy can be given to replace or be given along with drugs.

4 Ways to Not Get Diabetes Although Your Parents Have Diabetes

Do you have diabetes offspring or have a sibling who has diabetes? You should be careful because this can increase your chances of developing diabetes too.

Diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes mellitus has a very strong relationship with family history and ancestry, compared to type 1 diabetes. Many studies have proven that genetics plays a very strong role in developing type 2 diabetes in a person.

Some studies show that the risk of a child getting diabetes is greater when his mother has diabetes. Meanwhile, if both parents suffer from diabetes, the risk is even greater reaching 50%.

In addition, the risk of diabetes is strengthened by a bad lifestyle. In one family, usually people tend to have the same eating and exercise habits, so more lifestyle factors can increase your risk of developing diabetes.

What should I do if I have diabetes offspring?

There are several ways you can reduce your risk of diabetes. Basically all you have to do is change your lifestyle, you must learn to apply a healthy diet and be balanced with regular exercise.

Take care of your weight
Being overweight is one of the important risk factors that can cause you to get diabetes. Obesity can increase your risk 20-40 times greater for diabetes. If you are overweight, you should gradually lose weight until you reach a normal weight.

More moves than watching TV
A sedentary lifestyle or an inactive lifestyle also plays a role in developing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Frequent use of your muscles to move can increase the ability of muscles to use insulin and absorb glucose. This eases the pressure on the insulin-making cells.

Watching TV is an activity that is often done by most people. The more time you spend in front of a television glass screen, the greater your risk of being overweight or obese, so it will also increase your risk of developing diabetes. Unhealthy diet patterns related to watching TV can also explain the relationship between watching TV and diabetes. Every two hours you spend watching TV can increase your chances of developing diabetes by 20%.

Maintain your food intake
Of course, to be able to avoid you from diabetes, your diet should change to a healthy diet with balanced nutrition. There are 4 important changes you can make to prevent type 2 diabetes, namely:

1. Choose carbohydrates from whole grains rather than those already processed (refined grains)

There is evidence that dietary intake of more whole grains, such as wheat, can protect you from diabetes, while refined grains (refined grains) can increase your risk of diabetes.

Research by Nurses’ Health Studies I and II shows that women who consume an average of 2-3 servings of whole grains in a day are 30% less likely to develop diabetes than women who rarely consume whole grains. The study was conducted on more than 160,000 healthy women and was followed for 18 years.

The skin and fiber in whole grains are more difficult to break down into glucose, making the increase in blood sugar and insulin slower, and the glycemic index lower. As a result, the pressure on the body to make insulin is reduced, so it can help prevent type 2 diabetes. In addition, whole grains are also rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that can help reduce the risk of diabetes. Instead, white bread, white rice, mashed potatoes, and donuts have a high glycemic index which can then increase the risk of diabetes.

2. Avoid sweet drinks

Sweet drinks also contain a high glycemic load, so drinking lots of sweet drinks is associated with an increased risk of diabetes. In the Nurses’ Health Study II study, women who drank one or more sweet drinks a day had a 83% higher risk of type 2 diabetes compared to women who consumed sweet drinks less than once a month.

Another reason why sweet drinks can increase the risk of diabetes is because it is associated with weight gain. Research conducted by Nurses ‘Health Study II and The Black Women’ s Health Study shows that women who consume lots of sweet drinks experience more weight gain than women who limit sweet drinks.

However, there is other evidence that explains that sweet drinks can cause chronic inflammation, high triglycerides, reduce good cholesterol (HDL), and increase insulin resistance, where all of these are risk factors for diabetes.

3. Choose good fat instead of bad fat

Good fats, such as polyunsaturated fats found in liquid vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds, can prevent you from diabetes. While bad fats that you can find in the form of trans fats on margarine, fast food, or on fried foods can actually increase your risk of developing diabetes.

Unlike other polyunsaturated fats, the polyunsaturated fats you find in fish cannot protect you from diabetes. Polyunsaturated fats in fish that you know as omega-3s help in preventing heart disease. So, if you have diabetes, eating fish can help you avoid a heart attack or death from heart disease.

4. Limit red meat and avoid processed meat

Some studies show that eating red meat and processed meat can increase the risk of diabetes. Why does this happen? This might be because the high iron content in red meat can reduce the effectiveness of insulin or it can also damage the cells that produce insulin. In processed meat, high sodium and nitrite content as preservatives may be responsible for this. You can replace your meat intake with other healthier protein sources, such as beans, low-fat milk, chicken, or fish.

Quit smoking
If you are a smoker, you should stop smoking immediately. Smoking is very dangerous for health, including also can cause diabetes. Smokers are more at risk of developing diabetes by 50% or more compared to people who do not smoke, and heavy smokers have a higher risk of diabetes.