The Cause of Diabetes: How Much We Do Know and Why We Can Stop the Epidemic Now
We need to know the underlying cause of diabetes so that we can formulate a cure for this disease.
The leading authorities on the disease don't really know what causes it. Yet, they treat it, and somewhat try to silence those natural remedy advocates that offer potential solutions with virtually no side effects.
As a Type 2 diabetic and a believer in nature and its Originator, my view is different. My experience with this disease drives me to believe...
Disease never occurs without a cause. If you can find and remove the cause, the disease will go away.
What is the real Cause of Diabetes?
Short answer: glucose accumulates in the blood (a condition called hyperglycemia or high blood sugar), because it cannot get into the cells.
Check out these topics related to type 2 diabetes:
This happens when there is no insulin in the blood to transport the glucose across cell membranes or when the receptor sites on the cells at which the insulin makes this delivery have been blocked.
The release of insulin by the pancreas into the blood stream is triggered by the concentration of glucose in the blood.
What is diabetes like?
Diabetes is starvation, but at the cell level.
Diabetes is caused when insulin cannot (or does not) do it's job of getting glucose into the cell. This might be due to clogged receptor sites on the cells, or if insulin is not released by the pancreas.
What causes Type 1 diabetes?
In Type 1 diabetes (also called insulin-dependent diabetes) the pancreas does not make insulin anymore because insulin-producing cells (islets of Langerhans) have been damaged.
Many Type 1 diabetics have this condition from childhood. It is also called childhood diabetes.
I know of one Type 1 diabetic whose pancreas was damaged from a very high fever when he was a young child. He wears an insulin pump. It monitors the amount of insulin in his blood and automatically mimics the role of his pancreas.
Cause of Diabetes (Type 2 or Adult Onset)
Type 2 diabetes on the other hand, is largely the result of lifestyle (diet and inactivity). Let me explain, here.
The body produces insulin but the glucose still cannot get to the cells because the insulin receptor sites on the cells are clogged with fat molecules (see illustration at right). Note, the mention of "fat".
This condition is almost always related to obesity. In my case, however, it is not. I have always had an enviable body-mass index (my BMI = 22.7). This leads me to mention another factor suspected in the cause of diabetes.
Is Heredity a Cause of Diabetes?
Hereditary factors and ethnicity (to some extent) also predispose some people to be develop diabetes.
It is believed though, that good lifestyle practices, at least from early adulthood can prevent, or at least significantly delay, the development of Type 2 diabetes.
The fact that I get my parents genes does not mean my health habits have to be like theirs.
So Type 2 diabetes is caused by fat clogging the insulin receptor sites on cells, effectively blocking insulin from delivering the glucose necessary for cell life and function.
Some experts in the medical field call this the "insulin-resistance syndrome", in which the normal release of insulin by the pancreas is ineffective in delivering glucose to the cells. Essentially, the cells are actually starved and may die.
That's why the complications of diabetes include internal organ failures, nerve damage, blindness, and amputations.
Body cells have receptor sites through which the insulin delivers glucose molecules to the cells. Imagine that insulin attaches to the receptors while "holding" onto glucose.
Imagine insulin molecules attach to a cell that has receptor sites but these sites are clogged by fat molecules. This prevents the delivery of glucose to the cell. It is important to note that fat cells also have receptors, and nutrients can be delivered through them. However, when glucose is delivered to fat cells the glucose in the fatty tissue is not as useful as glucose delivered to muscle tissue.
Physical exercise stimulates the creation of more insulin receptor sites on cells. Some researchers document the phenomenon as more pronounced in strength training than in aerobic - although both forms of exercise stimulate receptor formation. Within 7 hours after vigorous exercise, new receptor sites are formed on cells.
What Should You do if You Have Diabetes, or Are at Risk?
It requires a change in lifestyle (eating, exercise, etc) in order to remove the cause of diabetes (as explained here).
It may not totally eradicate Type 2 diabetes, but at least it should return the statistics to pre-World War I levels, when much fewer people developed the disease.
Here is more information on diet
that hits a major cause of diabetes. I also recommend some information on
losing weight and how to
supplement your diet
and win the fight against diabetes other common lifestyle conditions.
My experience with the anti-diabetes diet tells me this is what is needed.