Genetic Factors
Genes play a major role in developing type 2 diabetes as a person’s risk can increase or decrease due to having certain genes or a combination of genes. Type 2 diabetes has a strong genetic component ("Genetic Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes"). The common genes that make a person predisposed to developing type 2 diabetes are TCF7L2, CAPN10, ABCC8, GLUT2, and GCGR. Since gene mutations cannot cause type 2 diabetes alone, they interact with certain risk factors to increase the predisposition of developing type 2 diabetes. Some of these factors include: weight, inactivity, family history, and race ("Diabetes Risk factors"). Having both certain gene mutations and certain risk factors increase the susceptibility of a person getting
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Generally speaking, any genes that are involved in the regulation of glucose can affect the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Some of these genes control the production of glucose, production of insulin, how glucose levels are sensed in the body, and the regulation of insulin. Some of the genes that have been identified as being associated with type 2 diabetes include TCF7L2, ABCC8, calpain 10, GLUT2, and GCGR. TCF7L2, transcription factor 7-like 2, is a gene that affects insulin secretion and glucose production. ABCC8, the sulfonylurea urea receptor, helps regulate insulin. Calpain 10, CAPN10, is a protein coding gene and gene polymorphisms of CAPN10 increase susceptibility to diabetes or insulin resistance (Shore). GLUT2, glucose transporter 2, helps move glucose into the pancreas. GCGR, the glucagon receptor, is a glucagon hormone that is involved in glucose regulation. Any mutation of these genes increases the risk or type 2 diabetes. The interactions between genetic factors and environmental factors make it hard to figure out the true cause of type 2 diabetes but there is very strong evidence that supports the fact that behavioral changes can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes ("Is it In Your Genes: Type 2 Diabetes"). Other genetic mutations can cause diabetes by damaging the quality, rather than the quantity, of insulin produced by the body or by causing some insulin …show more content…
The risk for type 2 diabetes increases with age. A person's risk for diabetes is higher if their mother, father, or sibling has diabetes and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases with the number of risk factors you have ("Diabetes | Causes & Risk Factors"). It is important to know the risk factors to reduce or prevent the chances of developing diabetes. Numerous studies have shown that variants of the TCF7L2 gene increase susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. People who inherit two copies of the variant have an 80% higher risk in developing type 2 diabetes than those who do not carry the gene variant. Despite having the variants, diet and physical activity leading to weight loss can help delay diabetes. People who are genetically susceptible to type 2 diabetes are more vulnerable if they are physically inactive and obese. Type 2 diabetes is caused by both by environmental factors and genetic factors and scientists have linked gene mutations to an increased risk of diabetes. It is hard to distinguish lifestyle risk from genetic risk because most of the time, lifestyle choices tend to run in the family. If parents live a sedentary life then their kids will most likely live a sedentary life too as parents with unhealthy habits are likely to pass on
- If either parent suffers from Type 2 Diabetes, a child’s risk of developing the disease is about 15%. If both parents have the condition, the risk of developing the disease is 75%.
In the beginning of this process the pancreas makes extra insulin to make up for the “insulin resistance.” But over time your pancreas is not about to make enough insulin to keep you blood glucose levels normal. 14Exactly how Type 2 diabetes occurs is unknown to scientists but they have found that genetics and lifestyle play a role in it. Genetics, although your parents may have this disease it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get it for sure but it does raise the likelihood.
In Gattaca, the plot focuses on the ethics, the risks, and the emotional impact of genetic testing in the nearby future. The film was released in the 90s; yet in the present, the film does not give the impression of science fiction. Today, genetic testing is prevalent in many aspects of the scientific community. This paper will describe genetic testing, its purpose, diagnostic techniques that use genetic testing, relating Huntington’s disease to genetic testing, and the pros and cons of genetic testing.
Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin, a hormone that allows blood glucose (blood sugar) to enter the cells of the body and be used for energy. Diabetes falls into two main categories: type 1, or juvenile diabetes, which usually occurs during childhood or adolescence, and type 2, or adult-onset diabetes, the most common form of the disease, usually occurring after age 40. Type 1 results from the body’s immune system attacking the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The onset of juvenile diabetes is much higher in the winter than in the summer. This association has been repeatedly confirmed in diabetes research. Type 2 is characterized by “insulin resistance,” or an inability of the cells to use insulin, sometimes accompanied by a deficiency in insulin production. There is also sometimes a third type of diabetes considered. It is gestational diabetes, which occurs when the body is not able to properly use insulin during pregnancy. Type 2 diabetes encompasses nine out of 10 diabetic cases. Diabetes is the fifth-deadliest disease in the United States, and it has no cure. The total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2002 was estimated to be $132 billion, or one out of every 10 health care dollars spent in the United States. Diabetes risk factors can fall into three major categories: family history, obesity, and impaired glucose tolerance. Minority groups and elderly are at the greatest risk of developing diabetes.
Your genetic information determines the genes you inherit that may cause or elevate your risk of certain medical conditions. My family genogram clearly indicates the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D), heart disease (HD), hypercholesterolemia (HC) and hypertension (HTN). Heart disease is indicated on both maternal and paternal side and even though T2D only shows on my paternal side, the other diseases such as HC and HTN that are on my maternal side are risk factors for developing diabetes. According to Pessoa Marinho et al. (2013), the genetic and environmental risk factors that influence T2D development are: “age, gender, ethnicity, family history, obesity, inactivity, gestational diabetes, macrosomia, hypertension, decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, increased triglycerides, cardiovascular diseases, micropolycystic ovary syndrome, high blood glucose on previous testing, impaired glucose tolerance and glycated hemoglobin ≥5.7%” (Pessoa Marinho et al., 2013, p. 570). Bianco et al. (2013) states, “the maternal influence confirms the hereditary role in the diabetes pathogenesis that women with positive family history to the illness presented...
I have always been fascinated by conjoined twins and have always had questions about them like; what do the Siamese have to do with conjoined twins? Why does this form of twin happen? What, if any genes cause this? What types of Conjoined twins are there? How does the environment affect, if at all, the biological families' gene pool? In my research in efforts to prepare this paper, I found the answers to this question and many more. This term paper will cover the types of conjoined twins, the biological occurrence that causes conjoined twins, a look into some of the genetic and environmental causes of conjoined twins, the types of conjoined twins and the genetic and social impact of conjoined twins.
The study of the causes of substance abuse has been conflicting many people for a long time. There are two causes of substance abuse that have been argued for many years. The first cause is believed to be environmental. The second cause is a genetic cause that leads people to turn to drugs and alcohol. In “Touch of Grey” Lanthrop comes to the conclusion that his substance abuse issue posses both genetic and environmental causes. This argument is specifically compelling because he uses research and a personal statement to prove his findings. While environmental issues have a large impact on substance abuse, genetics have the greatest impact on substance abuse.
On Christmas Day in the year 2001, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. When I looked into the brand-new face of my son I saw a beautiful mystery. I wondered what kind of man my boy would grow to be and what his life would be like. There are those in the scientific community who would argue that my son's path was already determined at the moment of his birth, that his fate could be deciphered from his genetic make-up. As a nurturing mother I know better. At two years old my son has developed a more diverse vocabulary than many children twice or even three times his age. He recognizes many written words and reads them aloud. He is able to spell his name. He can distinguish a square from a rectangle and an octagon from a hexagon. Was he born with this knowledge? The answer is no. My son, as genetically gifted as he may be, could have been born into an environment in which his inborn potential was never developed. The knowledge he now possesses can be directly traced to the teaching environment in which he has grown. Human beings are a product of both their biology and their environment.
Diabetes is a disease that affects your pancreas, an important organ in regulating blood sugar. When a person has diabetes, there are two ways it can affect the pancreas because there are two types of the disease. Type-1 diabetes affects the pancreas by not allowing the body to produce enough insulin to keep the body’s blood sugar at a healthy level. The opposite is for Type-2 which produces too much insulin and gives the body too much insulin keeping the blood sugar number above healthy (Type-2). On my mother’s side of the family, Type-1 diabetes is prevalent and it isn’t entirely considered an inherited disease, but it has been proven to have some genetic factors that can be passed down.
My aunt, Connie suffers from type 2 diabetes which she inherited from my grandmother. However, we cannot only rely on genetics as the primary cause if type 2 diabetes, I also looked at other possible causes that might have led to the diabetes.
There are three types of diabetes. They are called Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, and Gestational Diabetes. For the most part Type 1 Diabetes is usually caused by genetics or a severe childhood illness that has damaged the cells in the immune system. Type 1 diabetes is often called “juvenile diabetes“ and is commonly found in children. On the other hand Type 2 diabetes is often found in adults. There are many factors that cause Type 2 diabetes. A few of those factors are obesity and poor lifestyle decisions such as no exercise and overea...
A genetic mutation is a permanent change in the sequence of the DNA that makes up a gene. A mutation of these sorts can be caused by either inheritance from the parent or caused sometime during the life of someone. The mutation that has been inherited is called a germline mutation. Germline mutations affect virtually the entire body, and they seem to be present in every cell. A somatic mutation, or one that is caused in the DNA of a single cell sometime during the life, can be caused by an environmental factor or a wrong bonding in the DNA molecule. These cannot be passed down to the next generation of children because they occur in a specific cell as opposed to in a reproductive cell. Some mutations occur in the embryo as it is growing. These may occur during cell division, and some of the cells may or may not inherit this mutation. Some mutations are extremely rare, and others are incredibly common. Those that occur in more than one percent across a population are considered polymorphisms. Polymorphisms are considered normal variations in DNA, and they are known to cause simple changes such as variations in blood types and hair color. Although these are not typically fatal, they can influence the creation of some disorders (Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, USA.gov, 2013).
Genetic and environmental influences. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries prominent researches believed that genes were fully responsible for crime. Cesare Lombroso, a medical criminologist from The Italian School of Criminology, argued that criminality was a biological trait found in some human beings. He believed that atavism (the appearance of organisms resembling ancestral forms of life) could be identified by a number of measurable physical stigmata like protruding jaw, drooping eyes and sloping shoulders.
Studies have also shown that genetics also plays a part in illnesses and diseases that c...
Type 2 diabetes is a condition that affects the way the body processes glucose. I stated things that I can do to lower my chances of having type 2 diabetes is watching what I eat, decreasing the amount of sugar, chips and snacks I consume. I can start now to try to eat more balanced meals and choose healthier snack options. Risk factors that contribute to type 2 diabetes are physical inactivity and moderate body mass index.