I agree with Prof. Al-Ani but I would add that preventives measures such as diet and exercise will help significantly. I recently developed a simple relationship between the A1C and Blood Sugar Reading:
A1C = (Blood Sugar Reading + 50)/29
It is based on published tables that doctors normally provide to patients. This will allow you to keep track of your A1C based on a simple test. It is recommended to keep you A1C below 7.0. Try it.
There are three main kinds of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Each of these is briefly described below, along with their important risk factors.
1. Type 1 diabetes
The main risk factors for type 1 diabetes include:
· Family history. Having a parent or sibling with type 1 diabetes increases the chances of a person having the same type. If both parents have type 1, the risk is even higher.
· Age. Type 1 diabetes usually affects younger people. Ages 4 to 7 and ages 10 to 14 are the most common. Type 1 diabetes may occur at other ages, although it does so less often.
· Genetics. Having certain genes may increase the risk of type 1 diabetes. Your doctor can check for these genes.
· Where a person lives. Studies have found more type 1 diabetes the further away from the equator a person lives.
Type 2 diabetes has two kinds of risk factors. One kind of risk factor cannot be avoided. The other kind of risk factor, however, can be avoided.
Unavoidable risk factors
· family history
· having a baby weighing more than 9 pounds
· race
· age
· dark, thick, velvety skin appearing around the neck or armpits
· history of gestational diabetes
People who are African-American, Asian-American, Latino-Hispanic-American, Native American, or Pacific Islander all have a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes than other groups.
Type 2 diabetes tends to occur in people age 45 years or older. This type of diabetes is occurring in younger people more and more, however.
Risk factors that can be avoided or treated
Risk factors for type 2 diabetes that can be avoided include getting no exercise and being overweight or obese.
· obesity or being overweight, especially around the waist
· getting little or no exercise
· high blood pressure
· heart or blood vessel disease and stroke
· low levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL)
· high levels of fats, called trigycerides
· certain mental health conditions
· polycystic ovary syndrome
· smoking
· stress
· too much or too little sleep
Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes is diabetes during pregnancy. Most women who are affected have not had diabetes before, and it goes away after the baby is born.
However, once a woman has had gestational diabetes, the chances are that it will return in future pregnancies.
Risk factors for gestational diabetes are much the same as other kinds of diabetes. These include:
· being over 25 years of age
· family or personal history of diabetes
· prediabetes, which is high blood glucose without diabetes
type one diabetes is generally from birth or during development, in fact one of my dearest friends died from complications from type one after losing both legs and her kidneys failed. Here the risk factors are generally genetic, or faulty pancreatic activity in the islets of langerhan which cannot produce insulin or rempve glycogen from the blood stream
type 2, is adult onset, in fact my husband has type 2 and his a1c is 8 which is above normal. It shoud be 6 or lower
risk factors are obesity, poor pancreatic performance in islets of langerhan, high blood pressure, high LDL B cholesterol,ohigh tryglycerides, poor eating habits, not enough exercise, metabolic syndrome (expanding waist line from eating processed foods), genetics or family history which generally skips a generation, and for women with polycistic ovaries. one can reverse type 2 diabetes by losing a lot of weight and eating strategically, and eating a lot of raw veggies and lower amounts of grain carbs and avoid all white flour carbs
Besides Type 1, Type 2, and gestational diabetes, there is now an emerging "Type 3" (that is not gestational), recent research this year.
As for risk factors, to all of the above, I would include neuro-stress features of chronic child abuse/exposure to trauma during the first 3 years of life (and perhaps later, as well). those first few years of brain development can alter HPA axis and set up chronic cortisol production, which causes hyperinsulinemia, followed by blood sugar drops, which prompts over-eating / sugary cravings...eventually insulin resistance... and lots of dysregulation.
Chronic cortisol production from constant stress can increase sugar cravings and increase grehlin levels which is the hunger hormone. Cortisol suppresses leptin levels which is the satiety hormone leading to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
The main risk factors for type 1 diabetes include:
Family history. Having a parent or sibling with type 1 diabetes increases the chances of a person having the same type. If both parents have type 1, the risk is even higher.
Age. Type 1 diabetes usually affects younger people. Ages 4 to 7 and ages 10 to 14 are the most common. Type 1 diabetes may occur at other ages, although it does so less often.
Genetics. Having certain genes may increase the risk of type 1 diabetes. Your doctor can check for these genes.
Where a person lives. Studies have found more type 1 diabetes the further away from the equator a person lives.
Unavoidable risk factors for type 2 Diabetes:
family history
having a baby weighing more than 9 pounds
race : People who are African-American, Asian-American, Latino-Hispanic-American, Native American, or Pacific Islander all have a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes than other groups.
age : Type 2 diabetes tends to occur in people age 45 years or older. This type of diabetes is occurring in younger people more and more, however.
dark, thick, velvety skin appearing around the neck or armpits
history of gestational diabetes.
Risk factors for type 2 Diabetes that can be avoided or treated:
obesity or being overweight, especially around the waist