Diabetes And Obesity

Recent researches have shown a close relation between obesity and diabetes. Until recently, it was only a suspicion that obesity may leads to diabetes, with this study, it has been proven that if you are suffering from obesity, then there are many chances that you will attain diabetes as well. The Associate Professor of Monash University, Matthew Watt, led the team of the researchers who found that a protein known as PEDF or Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor) is released by the fat cells that trigger a series of interactions and events, leading to the development of diabetes (Type-2) in the patients.

Due to the fact that PEDF is produced by fat cells, people with more fat tissues have a higher levels of PEDF. When the PEDF is released into the blood stream of the human body, the liver and muscles become de-sensitized to insulin. In that case, pancreas produces more insulin which counteracts the negative effects. This release of insulin causes pancreas to get over-worked and eventually, releasing of insulin gets slowed down or stopped, leading to type 2 diabetes. It seems that if a person has more fat tissues, then he is likely to be less sensitive to the insulin. In that case, a huge amount of insulin is needed so that the body’s glucose regulation can be maintained.

The conducted research showed that increasing amount of PEDF is not a direct cause of type 2 diabetes, but blocking PEDF may have adverse effects. When body returns to being sensitive to insulin, it does not need extra insulin for being regulated. This reduces the risk of diabetes as well as the level of fats in the body.

It was always clear that obesity leads to diabetes but now that the link has been identified, it is going to be an important breakthrough in the scientific field. It is already known that loss of weight usually improves management of the blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. With the link between obesity and diabetes identified, new drugs can be designed so that the treatment of type 2 diabetes can be improved.

Note:

Type 2 diabetes also known as adult-onset diabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus account for 90 - 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes in US. The disease begin with insulin resistance where the cells do not use insulin properly, as a result the need for insulin rises and pancreas will have to work harder to produce enough insulin, gradually the pancreas loses it's ability to produce insulin. Due to greater prevalence of obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, diabetes is nearing epidemic proportions. Following are the prevalence of diabetes statistic in US:

• Total Diabetes Cases: 23.6 million people or 7.8% of the population in US.
• Diagnosed Diabetes Cases: 17.9 million people
• Undiagnosed Diabetes Cases: 5.7 million people
• Age > 60 years : 12.2 million or 23.1% in this age group have diabetes.
• Death : Diabetes was the 7th leading cause of death listed on U.S
• Estimated Medical Costs: $116 billion a year