Most of us are unaware about the real facts of Diabetes. General population does not have a clear idea about this. Now diabetes is one of the important factor which decides the social well being and the mortality rate in the world health care scenario. We should make people aware about the consequences of diabetes and thereby that we can control the number of diabetic patients.
Now recent studies estimate that diabetes is one of the important health problems that we Indians face.It is estimated that over 100 million Indians will suffer from diabetes by 2030. Even-though it is not an epidemic nowadays it spread like an epidemic.
WHAT IS DIABETES ?
As we know insulin is the hormone which regulates our blood sugar levels. Diabetes is a chronic condition in which body cannot make or use insulin properly. Diabetes can be classified mainly into two types
TYPE I DIABETES OR INSULIN DEPENDENT
An autoimmune disease that occurs when T cells attack and destroy most of the beta cells in the pancreas that are needed to produce insulin, so that the pancreas makes too little insulin.
TYPE II DIABETES OR NON INSULIN DEPENDENT
Here the beta cells of the pancreas produce insulin but the body is unable to use it effectively because the cells of the body are resistant to the action of insulin.
RISK FACTORS….
Family history, Abdominal obesity, excess weight, sedentary life style, unhealthy eating habits, etc
THE UNTOLD STORY BEHIND THE DIABETES
There is one of the important fact behind why we get diabetes. Not only our life style decides this. Our genetics and family pedigree has an important role in this. We Indians has a high number of Diabetic patients, one of the important reason behind this is THRIFTY GENE.
WHAT IS THE THRIFTY GENE???
Thrifty genes are genes which enable individuals to efficiently collect and process food to deposit fat during periods of food abundance in order to provide for periods of food shortage (feast and famine).
According to the thrifty gene hypothesis, the ‘thrifty’ genotype would have been advantageous for hunter-gatherer populations, especially child-bearing women, because it would allow them to fatten more quickly during times of abundance. Fatter individuals carrying the thrifty genes would thus better survive times of food scarcity.
These genes which predispose to diabetes (called ‘thrifty genes’) were historically advantageous, but they became detrimental in the modern world.
The thrifty phenotype hypothesis arose from challenges posed to the thrifty gene hypothesis. The thrifty phenotype hypothesis theorizes that instead of arising genetically, the “thrifty factors” developed as a direct result of the environment within the womb during development. The development of insulin resistance is theorized to be directly related to the body “predicting” a life of starvation for the developing fetus. Earlier this hypothesis adapted specifically for intermittent starvation but later it is used to explain the related disease like diabetes, Obesity and Hypertension. So our genetic system has also a role in this.
Thus, one possible remedy for these diseases is changing diet and exercise activity to more closely reflect that of the ancestral environment