Diabetes is a worldwide issue and an epidemic but when I say diabetes what am I talking about? Type one diabetes is not and has never been an epidemic because it’s a condition which has a strong genetic component. It’s through a combination of genetic and environmental factors that come together to bring about type one diabetes. Type two diabetes is our epidemic as it’s directly influenced by you and your lifestyle choices. It rose to prominence with obesity (as this is one of the biggest risk factors) and it has become one of the largest causes of death for obese people worldwide.
The main difference between type one and type two diabetes is in their causes. Type one is caused when your own body kills off your beta cells in an autoimmune reaction. Without the beta cells you cannot naturally produce insulin and as such you need to have regular injections of the hormone to survive. Type two is caused when you body becomes steadily more resistant to the effects of insulin, this allows your blood sugar to rise. You don’t generally need insulin injections with type two diabetes but in severe cases of the disease it may prove necessary.
The most important difference between the two main types of diabetes is that type two is avoidable. If you catch it in its pre-diabetes stage before it becomes permanent you can make some lifestyle changes and avoid the disease altogether. Type one diabetics aren’t nearly as lucky. Their disease gets diagnosed early on in life and leaves them with the chore of managing it for the rest of their lives. Most get used to it and it doesn’t become a huge issue. The important thing to remember is that we’re all capable of contracting type two but very few of us will ever experience type one.
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