If a friend or a loved one was diagnosed to have diabetes, you may have wondered how and why they got this disease called diabetes. You may have a friend with an amputated leg and someone you know have lost her/his vision due to diabetes. Understanding the causes of diabetes will be a big help in preventing this life threatening disease.

Despite the advancement in science, medical practitioners are still baffled as to the causes of diabetes. Heredity was once thought to be one of the major causes of diabetes as it was noted that children of diabetic parents are more prone to developing this disease. This notion however, was disputed by the fact that not all members of a family with history of diabetes suffer from this disease. Other factors are also known to play a major role in the development of diabetes.

Diet is one of the major causes of diabetes. The body needs a balanced diet so that energy that is vital to the performance of the bodily function is produced. However, too much carbohydrates, proteins as well as fat is destructive to the body as this will hamper the pancreas from insulin secretion. Insufficient insulin secretion would result to higher blood sugar levels.

An obese person is susceptible to diabetes as the body is more resistant to insulin. The function of insulin is to let the sugar in the blood enter the tissue cells. Excessive body fat hinders this insulin function thus higher blood sugar levels would result.

Higher blood sugar levels can also result from viral infection. Coxsackie B virus that infects the pancreas would impair insulin secretion. Age is also noted to be one of the causes of diabetes. When you get older, you are more predisposed to contacting this disease. This is due to the fact that less active older people gain weight due to their sedentary lifestyle. Pancreatic dysfunction will occur when older people gain weight.