Obesity Carries Greater Risk For Diabetes

One of the major causes of diabetes has been obesity. Obesity is the condition wherein the lifestyle of the individual renders the body overweight leading to many health issues. One of these health issues is the development of diabetes in the individual.

Diabetes is the condition wherein the body develops a resistance to or produces low levels of insulin. The hormone insulin is important to allow the body to metabolize blood sugar. Without insulin, the blood glucose remains in the bloodstream, leading to all sorts of complications.

The causality between obesity and diabetes has been observed but the actual circumstances that would make an obese person develop diabetes is still subject to scientific determination. A recent study found that when the endoplasmic reticulum has been subject to stress, such as high fat diets in obese people, then the result is abnormal production of glucose in the liver. This abnormal production is the step towards insulin resistance.

The reverse is true with healthy people. When the blood glucose levels fall too low, there is a fasting switch that automatically turns on to produce glucose for use the body's use. This is called gluconeogenesis, where the liver produces glucose as fuel for the body. In obese people, even when there are ample levels of blood glucose present, the liver still continues to produce glucose, leading to diabetes and insulin resistance.

When the cells become stressed due to the lack of fuel, the production of proteins lowers in the cell leading to complications. This is called the ER stress response and puts the liver on overdrive to create glucose for obese individuals. This contributes to the development of hyperglycemia or high blood glucose levels. This in turn, according to the researchers, compromises the cells' survival pathway and instead opts to turn to produce more glucose leading to insulin resistance in obese individuals. This is the link that many have been searching to find how obesity contributes to the development of diabetes.

Since the ER stress response is an autonomic function that operates only in certain conditions, the best way to manage this is keeping one's weight down. This is done through managed diets of carbohydrates and sweets together with an exercise regimen designed to keep healthy the body and use up excess blood sugar. With a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle, the overall ER stress response would be held in check to prevent insulin resistance from developing into full-blown diabetes.

Bobby Castro is the online editor at the Diabetes Forum, where he has published a number of articles about general diabetes and many other topics.