There are a number of major risk factors for

type 2 diabetes.
Although some diabetic risks come from our genetics,
many are preventable.

Unfortunately, many people do not know what these are or clearly understand
the signs of them. For this reason, below is a list
of top type 2 diabetes risk factors.

• Also see:
  
  the symptoms of diabetes

Obesity

Obesity is the major type 2 diabetes risk, with millions of people throughout the world facing obesity. Almost a quarter of adults in the UK are recorded as being obese.

Furthermore, the numbers continue to climb, both amongst adults and children.

The number of children being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes caused by obesity is climbing everywhere. In the UK, about one in three children are classed as obese.

• Read more on
  
  diabetes and obesity

Lack of exercise and sedentary way of life

Living a sedentary lifestyle without sufficient exercise is seriously damaging to health.

Being inactive often leads to being overweight, which can lead to pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Staying active
decreases insulin resistance and helps bodily insulin
to be more effective.

• Read more on
  
  diabetes and obesity

Eating a ‘Western’ diet

Eating unhealthily is a major cause of type 2 diabetes,
as over 90 per cent of type 2 diabetics are overweight.

A so called Western diet, with a reliance on processed foods, poor quality fats and little fibre content, is thought to be a major contributor to diabetes and

metabolic
syndrome

Eating
well, in conjunction with exercise, can prevent or reverse the development
of type 2 diabetes.

Picking a healthy diet can sometimes be confusing, with so many mixed messages, and its often not helped by so-called

diabetic food
which are not necessarily a healthier option.

High blood pressure

High cholesterol
and

blood pressure levels
are risks for many diseases, one of which is type 2 diabetes. Both are also major symptoms of

pre-diabetes

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes
is another major risk, and affects about 2 to 5 per cent of women who fall pregnant.

Those women who suffer from it face greater later-life risks of developing type 2 diabetes, as do their children.

Family history

Having a close family member with type 2 diabetes can raise your own risk of developing the condition.

Unfortunately, you cannot do much about your genetic history, but you can be ready by being aware of the

symptoms of type 2 diabetes

Also, many ethnic minorities
are more prone to suffer from diabetes.

• For more on this, please read
  
  diabetes
  and ethnicity

Aging

As the population of the world ages, diabetes rates are soaring.

Unfortunately, the older we are, the greater the risk of developing type
2 diabetes is. The pancreas, according to some scientists, begins to produce
insulin less effectively as we age.

Furthermore, bodily resistance to insulin
increases with age.

Metabolic syndrome is becoming increasingly common. It occurs when a range of metabolic risk factors such as obesity and insulin resistance come together.

Metabolic syndrome increases one’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

A number of alternative terms exist to describe the condition, such as syndrome X, Reaven’s syndrome and in Australia, CHAOS.

What are the criteria for metabolic syndrome?

There have been multiple proposed definitions for metabolic syndrome over the past twenty years, but the most widely used is the NCEP ATP III definition. This is also the most clinically applicable, as the criteria are all measurements that are easily accessible to doctors.

At least 3 of the 5 following criteria must be met to diagnose a person with metabolic syndrome:

• Abdominal obesity: waist circumference of ≥102 cm in men and ≥88 cm in women
• Hypertriglyceridemia: ≥150 mg/dl (1.695 mmol/L)
• Low HDL-C: < 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/dL) in men and < 50 mg/dL (1.30 mmol/dL) in women
• High blood pressure (BP): >130/85 mmHg
• High fasting glucose: >110 mg/dl (6.1 mmol/L)

Proinflammatory and prothrombotic states are also considered contributing factors, but are not part of the criteria.


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What are the symptoms of metabolic syndrome?

You may recognise some of the following symptoms of metabolic syndrome:

• 
  Tiredness
  – particularly after meals
• Inability to focus properly – ‘brain fog’
• 
  Acanthosis nigricans
  – browning (hyperpigmentation) of folds of skin such as on the neck, armpits, groin and between the buttocks

Most commonly, patients suffering from metabolic syndrome will exhibit
two major symptoms:

• Abdominal
  
  obesity
• 
  Resistance to insulin

Diagnosis of metabolic syndrome

An accurate form of diagnosis is not yet universally accepted.

Some experts
believe that a combination of three of the following components is indicative
of metabolic syndrome:

• Larger
  waist circumference
• Higher levels of triglycerides
• Lower HFL cholesterol
• 
  Higher blood pressure
• Higher
  
  fasting glucose levels

What if I have some of these symptoms?

If you have any of these symptoms, your doctor can run tests to determine whether you have elevated blood sugar levels and therefore insulin resistance.

One of these is the

oral glucose tolerance test
(OGTT or GTT).

Managing
metabolic syndrome

It is
important to intervene into metabolic syndrome at an early stage, reducing
the risk of type 2 diabetes developing.

Diet and exercise are the critical
factors in solving this problem.

Weight loss, increased exercise levels
and a healthy diet are the primary tools in managing metabolic syndrome.

When people talk about prevention of diabetes, it is usually about preventing type 2 diabetes. In the majority of cases, type 2 diabetes is brought on by lifestyle factors which can often be prevented.

These include an unbalanced diet, lack of activity, lack of sleep, stress, smoking and alcohol.

By making lifestyles changes, you can decrease your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes prevention overview

Leading doctors and researchers point to excessive levels of insulin as the likely reason why insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes develops.

Strategies such as low-carb diets and exercise help to reduce levels of insulin and are therefore effective for preventing type 2 diabetes from developing.

There are a number of

risk factors for diabetes, some of which are preventable, such as weight gain around the middle (central

obesity
), high cholesterol/triglyceride levels and

high blood pressure

Losing weight, adopting more activity into your day, stopping

smoking
and reducing alcohol intake can also help towards lowering the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and improving your all-round health.

Diet and preventing type 2 diabetes

Diet is the most important part of lifestyle change. The adage that

you can’t outrun a bad diet
is true.

It is much easier to lose weight on a good diet even if you are struggling to do exercise, than it is through exercise if you’re eating a poor diet.

Effective diets to prevent type 2 diabetes are those that do not cause your body to produce a lot of insulin. Carbohydrate has the biggest demand on insulin and so any diet that helps reduce carbohydrate intake will help towards reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Cutting out sugary food and drink and refined grains such as white bread and white rice is a good first step.

Modern research has shown that low-fat diets are not as healthy as they were once believed to be. It is more important to avoid processed food rather than trying to avoid fat in foods such as dairy.

Aim to

have a balanced diet
by basing meals around vegetables and include healthy sources of fat such as unsalted tree nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts), olive oil, avocado, oily fish, meat and full fat dairy.

For help with following a healthy diet that will help keep type 2 diabetes at bay,

join the Low Carb Program

endorsed by Dr David Unwin and trusted by the NHS.

Exercise to prevent type 2 diabetes

Whilst a good diet is the foundation of good health, exercise is the next important step.

Exercise can help to prevent diabetes
in a number of ways.

During

exercise, our muscles use any excess sugar in the blood and the sugar, known as glycoge, that is stored in the muscles and liver.

After exercise is completed, the muscles will gradually replenish their sugar stores by taking in sugar from the blood. This helps lower blood sugar levels and improves insulin sensitivity.

Regular exercise, along with a good diet, can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and can help reduce

cholesterol levels
and high blood pressure.

Even a little extra activity each day can help. Some basic steps can really help to make a difference if they become a regular habit, such as walking to the shops rather using the car or getting off the bus a stop early.

• 
  Simple steps to keep active with diabetes

Medication to help prevent diabetes

Whilst medication, such as

metformin, has been shown to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes amongst particularly high-risk cases where lifestyles interventions alone may not be enough.

In the UK, medication is not routinely prescribed to prevent type 2 diabetes, however, it may be prescribed on a case-by-case basis by doctors.


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Prevention of pre-diabetes

Pre-diabetes, as the name suggests, is a precursor to

type 2 diabetes
and therefore the same prevention strategies for preventing type 2 diabetes are applicable for prediabetes.

Prevention of type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes
mellitus is an autoimmune condition and there is currently no known way to prevent type 1 diabetes from occurring.

Whilst some trials have shown some evidence of risk reductio, these have been smaller trials and larger scale studies are required to confirm and substantiate the findings.

The area researchers have been looking into include:

• Gluteen free diets
• Avoiding cow’s milk