The New England Journal of Diabetes published a research study in 2006 which came away with two very interesting observations. The first was that a variation of the TCF7L2 gene is linked to prediabetes, which is when blood sugar is high but below the official diabetes range and can indicate a higher likelihood of developing diabetes.
And secondly, further data also showed that changes in your diet and levels of physical activity could reduce or stop the development of the disease, even for those people who have disease-risk increasing genetic variants. This has broad ranging implications for the study of diabetes and the way we might look to prevent it.
Every cell in the human body contains a nucleus with chromosomes, that carry DNA, which could be loosely described as the ‘building block’ of life, arranged in specific groups which are responsible for all our physical and biological characteristics.
Often person-to-person genetic differences result from mutations in the genes that may either directly cause disease, such as in the case of sickle-cell anemia, or combine with dietary and environmental factors to increase the probability of disease occurrence such as diabetes and obesity.
To determine whether or not these tests could be successful, it is necessary to understand what causes diabetes. Diabetes occurs when the body is unable to either produce or use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that transports glucose from the blood to storage tissues. This then results in high blood glucose levels that can cause very serious problems and damage to the eyes, kidneys, heart and nerves.
If the genetic predisposition to diabetes in the younger population is detected at the right time, and appropriate preventive measures are followed by them, then it could potentially reduce the number of diabetics.
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