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Sarah Morelli
HLTH 1020
Research Paper
July 14, 2016
Diabetes
Overview
I have never given it much thought about different diseases that run in my family. I have
never heard my parents talk about any sicknesses in our family or extended family. And so far,
no one close to me has been diagnosed with cancer. Now after this assignment I find that my
grandmother and my great uncle both have type 2 diabetes, and I didn't even know it. Both of
my family members werent diagnosed with type 2 diabetes until they were in their sixties, and
this played a vital role in their lifestyles.
When you know that diabetes runs in your family, you are able to make certain decisions
and better your lifestyle to prevent diabetes. My grandparents weren't aware of this in their
families and they didn't know how to prevent something they didnt know about. When
conducting my research I am going to research complications, prevention, treatment options,
and how diet and activity levels affect the different types of diabetes.

Description and Complications

There are a few different types of diabetes. We have type 1, type 2, and gestational
diabetes. Type 1 diabetes occurs usually in children and young adults but can appear in older
adults (Diff. Between par. 2). When you have type 1 diabetes, your body produces little to no
insulin. This occurs because the the cells that make your insulin are destroyed by your immune
system. Because your body produces little to no insulin, people with type 1 diabetes must take
insulin everyday (par. 2).
Type 1 diabetes can affect major organs in your body, these organs include; the heart,
blood vessels, nerves, eyes, and kidneys (Mayo clinic staff, complications par. 1). Other
complications include; skin and mouth complications, pregnancy conditions, and foot damage.
These occur because of high blood sugar levels and infections (par. 7-9). The long term
complications are not instant when developing type 1 diabetes but occur gradually over decades
(par. 2). Unfortunately type 1 diabetes can be life threatening and this usually occurs through
heart and blood vessel complications. Some of these complications include, artery disease,
leading to heart attacks, and strokes (par. 3).
Since type 1 diabetes isn't so much related to lifestyle as much as genetics there aren't
as many risk factors as the other type diabetes. But some possible risk factors include; type 1

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diabetes running in the family, certain genes, living further away from the equator, ages 4 to 7,
and ages 10 to 14 (Mayo clinic staff, risk factors par. 1-4).

Type 2 diabetes in a little more complicated, but is the most common type of diabetes.
The problem with type 2 diabetes, is not whether your body produces enough insulin, but how
your body responds to the insulin. This is called insulin resistance. In the past type 2 diabetes
has occurred in older adults, and usually in those who are overweight, but in recent years more
teens and children are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. This is most likely due to obesity
and inactivity (par. 3).
The complications with type 2 diabetes are similar to type 1 diabetes, regarding the long
term affects. They include same complications such as; heart and blood vessel disease, nerve
damage, kidney damage, eye damage, foot damage, and skin conditions, one condition that
was different was the connection between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimers. (Mayo clinic staff,
symptoms par. 25-32).
Other symptoms with type 2 diabetes include; increased thirst, hunger, and urination,
weight loss, fatigue, blurred vision, slow-healing sores or frequent infections, and sometimes
areas of darkened skin (Mayo clinic staff, symptoms par. 2-8).
Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include; type 2 diabetes runs in the family, your are
overweight, have an unhealthy diet, physical inactive, older in age, high blood pressure, certain
ethnicity, impaired glucose tolerance, gestational diabetes runs in the family, or you have had it

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before with another pregnancy, and also poor nutrition during your current pregnancy can lead
to type 2 diabetes (IDF par. 2).

Gestational diabetes was something I had never heard of until doing my research. It is
very similar to type 2 diabetes in the way that it can occur expect that this form of diabetes only
occurs during pregnancy and can occur with no history of diabetes. This form of diabetes occurs
because of the large amount of hormones your body is producing during pregnancy. The
hormones cause the cells in your pancreas to produces insulin less effectively similar to both
type 1 and type 2 diabetes (NIDDK par.6).
With gestational diabetes, most women don't notice any symptoms. The biggest issue
with the disease is how it can lead to type 2 diabetes. Common risk factors for gestational
diabetes include; being overweight, have had gestational diabetes before, have given birth to a
baby over 9 pounds, type 2 diabetes runs in the family, have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes,
have polycystic ovary syndrome or are African American, American Indian, Asian American,
Hispanic, or Pacific Islander American (NIDDK par. 8)

Prevention and Treatment

Although there is no way to prevent type 1 diabetes, studies are constantly going on to
find methods to prevent the disease, and there are ways to prevent or delay some of the
diseases complications. The most important way to prevent complications is keep your childs
blood sugar levels in range, and scheduling regular check ups with their doctors. The reason for

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regular check ups is to detect any early signs of complications, so that they can be treated and
possibly stopped, slowed or even reversed before they keep worse (Type 1 Diabetes- Prevention
par. 2).
Once diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, patients with require insulin therapy for the rest of
their lives. This therapy consists of two or more injections everyday, and daily monitoring of their
blood glucose levels (Type 1 Diabetes Mell. par. 1). Along with the prevention of complications,
treatment for these complications also requires a lot of schedules doctor visits, and
management.

Almost every type 2 diabetes case could have been preventable. The three biggest
factors that affect your chances of getting type 2 diabetes are genetics, level of psychical
activity, and diet. The first factor cant be changed but the last two are completely up to the
person in risk. So in order to prevent type 2 diabetes, one must life an active lifestyle and make
healthy food choices. Later in the paper, I will discuss why this is so important for at risk patients
of type 2 diabetes, and anyone in general.
In some cases type 2 diabetes patients with need to insulin therapy treatments but
unlike type 1 diabetes, many type 2 diabetes patients can control their blood sugar levels with
diet and exercise alone. To control your blood sugar levels, diabetics will often have to adopt a
completely new lifestyle.

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The same goes for gestational diabetes, as for type 2 diabetes, is also extremely
preventable. The same preventions include living an active lifestyle and and making healthy
eating choices. One of the important things to remember with gestational diabetes, is that it can
lead to type 2 diabetes. With this risk, women need to not only stay active and eat healthy before
and during their pregnancy but also after their pregnancy.

Diet and Psychical Activity

For this portion of the assignment I am going to focus mainly on type 2 diabetes and how
diet and psychic activity affects your risks, and complications. Going to the basics type 2
diabetes is caused when the body cant produce insulin effetely. This then causes your blood
glucose levels to be too high. To keep your blood glucose levels in a healthy range, some have
to do insulin therapy, but usually you need to follow an active lifestyle and make healthy diet
choices.
First I want to discuss healthy eating. Although there is no actual diabetes diet, health
recommendations say to eat high fiber, low fat foods. These include a lot of fruits, vegetables,
and whole grains. One thing I found interesting was that specialist recommend, eating fewer
animals products (Mayo clinic staff, treatment par. 3). If one is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it
is important that they go to a dietitian have them put together different meal plans and daily
macro and micro goals to insure your diet is where it should be. One should learn how to
properly track their food intakes, so they can make sure their blood glucose levels will be in
range.

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Aiming for an active life is also very important when monitoring your blood glucose
levels. Any type of activity that gets your heart going for a least thirty minutes, five days a week
will help! Psychical activity is important because it lowers your blood glucose levels, and with
hyperglycemia this is essential. One important thing that patients with type 2 diabetes needs to
be aware of, is to check your blood sugar levels before you exercise. Sometimes your levels
might too low, and you will need to have a snack before exercising (Mayo clinic staff, treatment
par. 8).

References
Choose More than 50 Ways to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/Diabetes/50-ways-preventdiabetes/Pages/publicationdetail.aspx
Differences Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes | Cornerstones4Care. (n.d.). Retrieved July
14, 2016, from https://www.cornerstones4care.com/about-diabetes/diabetes-basics/differenttypes-of-diabetes.html
Risk factors. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://www.idf.org/about-diabetes/risk-factors
Type 1 diabetes. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesconditions/type-1-diabetes/basics/complications/con-20019573
Type 1 diabetes. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesconditions/type-1-diabetes/basics/risk-factors/con-20019573
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Treatment & Management. (2016, July 6). Retrieved July 14, 2016,
from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/117739-treatment
Type 1 Diabetes-Prevention. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from
http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/tc/type-1-diabetes-prevention
M. (2016). Type 2 diabetes. Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesconditions/type-2-diabetes/diagnosis-treatment/treatment/txc-20169988

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Type 2 diabetes. (2016). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesconditions/type-2-diabetes/symptoms-causes/dxc-20169861
What I need to know about Gestational Diabetes. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/Diabetes/gestationaldiabetes/Pages/index.aspx#2