Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common diseases and causes of death in the world. Much attention is paid to this disease in the public and healthcare as there are measures for its prevention; however, drawing attention to these measures leads to misconception. Most often, people perceive diabetes as a consequence of unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle, and while this statement is correct for Type 2 diabetes, it does not cover other types of the disease.
Unhealthy eating habits, obesity, and an inactive lifestyle are the most common associations with diabetes. These factors are among the main reasons for developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus, which is the most common type (Galicia-Garcia et al. 2). This disease is associated with dysfunction of the pancreas and the body’s resistance to insulin – hormone that ensures normal blood glucose levels (Galicia-Garcia et al. 2). However, Type 1 diabetes is most often not associated with a person’s lifestyle, since it is caused by metabolic disorder due to lack of insulin production and is most often caused by genetic or auto-immune factors (Brinkman 500). Usually, this type of diabetes occurs in children, although it rarely manifests itself in adulthood. Another type of diabetes that is not lifestyle-related is gestational diabetes, which is caused by increased blood sugar in women during pregnancy (“Gestational Diabetes”). Therefore, this classification demonstrates that it is wrong to associate diabetes only with dietary habits and lifestyle and, especially, blame people with diabetes for their diagnosis.
In conclusion, diabetes is a metabolic disorder that results in high blood sugar levels for various reasons. Diabetes prevention measures lead people to believe that the disease is caused only by an unhealthy lifestyle, although this reason is only valid for Type 2 diabetes. However, the differences between types of diabetes need to be understood to avoid stigmatization of people with the disease and the possibility of it occurring in people with healthy lifestyles. Therefore, if people know the difference between the types of diabetes and its causes, they will be more protected from its complications.
Works Cited
Brinkman, Anne K. (2017). “Management of Type 1 Diabetes.” The Nursing Clinics of North America, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 499–511.
Galicia-Garcia, Unai, et al. “Pathophysiology of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.” International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 21, no. 17, 2020, p. 1-34.
“Gestational diabetes and pregnancy.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020, Web.