It’s hard to deny possible genetic influences when generations of your family develop chronic conditions like diabetes. But is it your DNA or your environment that passes along the risk?
Dr. Kadie E. Leach is a board-certified internal medicine specialist and primary care provider here in Lanham, Maryland. She’s a leader in chronic disease management and a proponent of healthy lifestyle choices that reduce your risk of diabetes and other serious health concerns.
Read what Dr. Leach says about diabetes and the influences of genetics vs environment.
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that affects how your body processes sugar. When you eat, your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose (sugar), which is absorbed into the bloodstream.
The pancreas, an organ located behind the stomach, produces insulin, a hormone that helps glucose enter cells where it’s used for energy. This process is disrupted when you have diabetes.
Health complications linked to poorly managed diabetes include kidney disease, vision loss, heart disease, and nerve damage. Left untreated, high blood sugar levels can lead to coma and death.
The two most common types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2.
Type 1 diabetes develops when an autoimmune reaction causes the body’s immune system to attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. It’s usually diagnosed in children, teens, or young adults.
People with type 1 diabetes require daily insulin delivered via injections or an insulin pump.
Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common and occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin or the body becomes resistant to insulin, starving cells of energy.
It typically develops in adults, but more children and teens are developing type 2 diabetes, likely due to rising obesity rates and poor dietary choices.
If you have type 2 diabetes, Dr. Leach creates an individualized treatment plan for you that may include changes in diet, increased physical activity, oral medications, and sometimes insulin.
Researchers continue to study the genetic versus environmental causes of diabetes, and our understanding continues to evolve.
DNA can play a significant role in diabetes. For instance, research indicates that people with a family history of type 1 diabetes are at a higher risk of developing the condition.
However, the inheritance pattern is complex, involving multiple genes and often depending on whether one or both parents had diabetes. A parent’s age at the time of diagnosis also seems to matter.
If you were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before age 11, the American Diabetes Association notes your child’s risk of diabetes doubles. If both parents developed diabetes before age 11, a child’s risk ranges from 1 in 10 to 1 in 4.
People with a family history of type 2 diabetes are also more likely to develop the condition. This seems to indicate a strong genetic link that, at the very least, predisposes your children to type 2 diabetes.
Although type 1 diabetes is caused by genetics and problems with the immune system, environmental factors play a crucial role in type 2 diabetes risk.
Unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as poor diet and lack of exercise, significantly increase the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, even in people with no genetic predisposition.
Fortunately, you can alter environmental factors that influence a child’s risk of type 2 diabetes. These changes also positively affect type 1 diabetes management since diet, exercise, and other healthy habits are crucial to a successful treatment outcome.
An active lifestyle combined with a whole-foods diet focused on lean proteins, vegetables, and fruits rather than processed foods like white pasta, cookies, and fried snacks can help prevent type 2 diabetes.
For more details about successfully preventing or managing diabetes, schedule a visit with Dr. Kadie Leach today. Call the office or request an appointment online.
