Who is to blame?

As I said to my drug dealing cousin a few weeks ago (he works for Nvro Nordisk).. if it was genetic how come we are suddenly seeing an explosion of Type 2 that we haven't ever seen before..

there is a very interesting science called epigenetics which studies how the environment can cause genes to be activated or not. There could be something of the sort at work at the moment, activating genes which lead to T 2, or switching off protective factors.

Maybe T2 has always been there but wasn't tested for, symptoms recognised or labels attached! My Dad died of heart failure but looking back I suspect he was probably T2 and/or had metabolic syndrome.

bulkbiker said:

As I said to my drug dealing cousin a few weeks ago (he works for Nvro Nordisk).. if it was genetic how come we are suddenly seeing an explosion of Type 2 that we haven't ever seen before..

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Neanderthals must have found a way to time-travel and spread their faulty genes last century. Duh.
That said, I'm pretty sure most people don't get diabetes, regardless of lifestyle, so bad luck genetically must be involved. Please don't take offence, dear type2's

Antje77 said:

Neanderthals must have found a way to time-travel and spread their faulty genes last century. Duh.
That said, I'm pretty sure most people don't get diabetes, regardless of lifestyle, so bad luck genetically must be involved. Please don't take offence, dear type2's

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Modern Homo Sapiens sapiens can carry up to 4% Neanderthal genes. There was interbreeding (so it is thought by geneticists).

Resurgam said:

there is a very interesting science called epigenetics which studies how the environment can cause genes to be activated or not. There could be something of the sort at work at the moment, activating genes which lead to T 2, or switching off protective factors.

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Do you think the increase of T2 diagnosis is reflective in societal change? Working hours affecting peoples ability to put healthy food on the table coupled with the large increase of fresh and frozen processed food that tastes nice but is full of simple carbs, fat & salt down nearly every isle in the supermarket, the near exponential increase in pizza delivery and take away foods (again suiting busy high pressured lifestyles) the same busy lifestyles not allowing time for exercise & enough sleep?

Edit, a moot point but I do wonder if I'd cook from fresh every day, counting what I'm eating, steaming what I can, if I didn't have T1, but probably not, pizzas look gorgeous as do a good number of supermarket meals and I found a lasagne at 140g cargs/kilo in Lidl which needs 8u +2u an hour later but none of it's healthy.

Guzzler said:

Modern Homo Sapiens sapiens can carry up to 4% Neanderthal genes. There was interbreeding (so it is thought by geneticists).

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I love, I love, I love my neanderthal girl
Yeah, sweet neanderthal girl
I love, I love, I love my neanderthal girl
Each and every day of the year

With apologies to Neil Sedaka...

kev-w said:

Do you think the increase of T2 diagnosis is reflective in societal change?

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Could well be - I blame Frankie and Bennys!

As you know from previous posts, I don't regard myself as a low carber, but on reviewing the evidence, it turns out I might actually be an accidental low carber!

I sometimes nip into an Italian place down the road from me after work, have a bowl of olives, and either a panini 50g, or a lasagne, Carbs & Cals puts it at about 40g, or blitz it with an 85g tortellini.

All perfectly manageable for a T1 who's been doing this for a while and knows how to juggle things.

Then, though, I've been doing my flat up, so I've been spending some time in out of town shopping centres with B&Qs, and I was after some food, so I popped into a Frankie & Bennys.

Ordered garlic bread as a starter - I thought it would be a three or four slices of baguete, but no, it was a full pizza base pasted with some garlic butter.

Got a lasagne. It was about four times the size of the one I get at my local place.

Value for money? Maybe. Ridiculously large portion sizes which (a) pose problems for experienced T1s, and (b) which would make anyone fat if they ate them often enough, definitely.

People do eat these things though. These out of town shopping centres are crowded with people every day stuffing themselves with more food than I'd ever consider normal.

I suppose some of them must have had t1 as well, but they should have died quickly of DKA so why do we have t1 today I guess the t2s lived much longer and so were capable of passing on the genes

Guzzler said:

Modern Homo Sapiens sapiens can carry up to 4% Neanderthal genes.

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23 and me says I'm 2.7% Neanderthal, I've even got the T-shirt. LOL

I need to go through the data again because when I had it done (a Christmas present) I was overwhelmed by the amount of information, especially the bit that talks about genetic disposition. I didn't seem to have any genetic predisposition for much, as I say, I'll have to have a good look again.

It is fine having a taste for sweet stuff if your access to sweet stuff is limited to seasonal fruit and the odd honey comb shared between the whole family group. Especially if cars, trains, vacuum cleaners and washing machines haven’t yet been invented. Easy to burn off those carbs with the manual labour need to stay alive. And warm. And fed.

But that leaves us with a taste for treats, celebratory feasting, comfort food, and an instinct to enjoy-it-while-we-can, when modern life means we can enjoy those things every day. If we want. And once the insulin resistance cycle kicks off, we are likely to want it very regularly indeed.

No idea whether that comes from my homo sapiens ancestors, or any neanderthal ones, but i know that my taste for fats and proteins is self limiting, while my tastes for carbs need me to limit them consciously.

Antje77 said:

Neanderthals must have found a way to time-travel and spread their faulty genes last century. Duh.
That said, I'm pretty sure most people don't get diabetes, regardless of lifestyle, so bad luck genetically must be involved. Please don't take offence, dear type2's

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I certainly don't take offence, since I know many many people who are far larger around the middle than I have ever been, who smoke, drink to excess, sit around scoffing junk food etc ... but don't have Diabetes!!! I have never had a waist measurement above 34" ... never smoked and don't like alcohol, walk everywhere, never weighed above 11 stone and have no accountable history of Diabetes in either side of my family! Luck of the draw perhaps?

I blame Arthur Nobile.

Its definitely genetic and environmental I think....

No it's definitely Arthur's fault well in my case any way

If he hadn't been so clever and discovered Prednisolone I would not be diabetic now.

Hmmm
Reading this thread reminds me of a saying " A little knowledge is a dangerous thing ".
I just don't know enough to make a comment but it was an interesting read thanks all.

"Diabetes prevalence is increasing globally, and Sub-Saharan Africa is no exception. With diverse health challenges, health authorities in Sub-Saharan Africa and international donors need robust data on the epidemiology and impact of diabetes in order to plan and prioritise their health programmes.

"Type 2 diabetes accounts for well over 90% of diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa, and population prevalence proportions ranged from 1% in rural Uganda to 12% in urban Kenya. Reported type 1 diabetes prevalence was low and ranged from 4 per 100,000 in Mozambique to 12 per 100,000 in Zambia."

From here https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-11-564


According to the program those native to Sub-Saharan Africa do not have neanderthal genes as their ancestors did not interact with the neanderthals.

JohnEGreen said:

"Diabetes prevalence is increasing globally, and Sub-Saharan Africa is no exception. With diverse health challenges, health authorities in Sub-Saharan Africa and international donors need robust data on the epidemiology and impact of diabetes in order to plan and prioritise their health programmes.

"Type 2 diabetes accounts for well over 90% of diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa, and population prevalence proportions ranged from 1% in rural Uganda to 12% in urban Kenya. Reported type 1 diabetes prevalence was low and ranged from 4 per 100,000 in Mozambique to 12 per 100,000 in Zambia."

From here https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-11-564


According to the program those native to Sub-Saharan Africa do not have neanderthal genes as their ancestors did not interact with the neanderthals.

Click to expand...

I have viewed both episodes. Overall, they are making far too many suppositions. I found myself thinking 'This is just bargain basement telly'. I won't be watching any future episodes. Alice Roberts is the archeoanthropologist to watch.