Causes of Diabetes

what is diabetes?

Diabetes is a complex group of diseases with a variety of causes. People with diabetes have high blood sugar levels, also called high blood sugar or hyperglycemia.

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder - the way the body uses digested food to produce energy. The digestive tract breaks down the carbohydrates - sugars and starches present in many foods - into glucose, a form of sugar that enters the bloodstream. With the help of the hormone insulin, the body's cells absorb glucose and use it for energy. Diabetes develops when the body does not produce enough insulin or can not effectively use insulin, or both.

Insulin is produced in the pancreas, an organ located behind the stomach. The pancreas contains clusters of cells called islets. The beta cells in the islets produce insulin and release the blood.

What causes type 1 diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is caused by a lack of insulin due to the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. In type 1 diabetes - an autoimmune disease - it attacks the body's immune system and destroys beta cells. Normally, the immune system protects the body from infection by identifying and eliminating potentially harmful bacteria, viruses and other foreign substances. But in autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the cells of the body. In type 1 diabetes, beta cell destruction can take place over several years, but the symptoms usually develop over a short period of time.

Type 1 diabetes usually occurs in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age. In the past, type 1 diabetes is known as juvenile diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Genetic susceptibility

Inheritance plays an important role in determining who is prone to develop type 1 diabetes genes from a biological father of a child. Genes contain instructions for making proteins that are necessary for body cells to work. Many of the genes and interactions between genes are believed to influence sensitivity and protection against type 1 diabetes. Key genes may vary among population groups. Variations in genes that affect more than 1 percent of a population group are called gene variants.

Some variants of genes that carry instructions to make proteins called human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in white blood cells are linked to the risk of developing type 1 diabetes proteins produced by HLA genes to help determine if the immune system recognizes a cell Such as a part of the body or as a foreign matter. Some combinations of HLA gene variants predict that a person will be at increased risk for type 1 diabetes, while other combinations have a protective effect or have no effect on risk.

Autoimmune destruction of beta cells

In type 1 diabetes, white blood cells called T cells attack and destroy beta cells. The process begins long before symptoms of diabetes appear and continue after diagnosis. Type 1 diabetes is often not diagnosed until most beta cells have been destroyed. At this point, a person needs insulin therapy daily to survive. Finding ways to modify or stop the autoimmune process and preserve the function of beta cells is a major focus of current scientific research.

Recent research suggests that insulin itself may be a trigger for the immune attack on beta cells. The immune system of people prone to develop type 1 diabetes insulin reacts as if it were a foreign substance or antigen. To fight against antigens, the body produces proteins called antibodies. Antibodies to insulin and other beta cell-produced proteins are found in people with type 1 diabetes. Researchers are testing these antibodies to help identify those at highest risk for developing the disease. Test types and blood levels of antibodies can help determine if a person has type 1 diabetes, LADA or other type of diabetes.