This might help you check your risk of developing type 2 diabetes before other symptoms begin to develop in the body.
Diabetes is characterized by the body’s inability to effectively regulate blood sugar levels, which results in an array of symptoms that can impact the entire body and may lead to potentially fatal complications.
Generally, this inability stems from the body’s inefficient absorption of sugar into its cells, often due to either a lack of insulin, the hormone that triggers this process, or the ineffectiveness of the insulin that is present.
Type 1 diabetes arises from an autoimmune response where the body’s own immune system destroys pancreatic cells responsible for producing insulin. This lifelong disease is commonly diagnosed early in a person’s life and is managed through vigilant monitoring of blood sugar levels, dietary modifications, and the consistent administration of insulin.
Although the precise causes of Type 1 diabetes are not completely understood, it seems to be passed down in families, suggesting a genetic element and the potential involvement of early environmental influences.
Around 85 to 90 percent of individuals living with chronic diabetes fall into the category of Type 2 diabetes. This form of diabetes is characterized by a gradual decline in the pancreas’s ability to produce sufficient insulin or the development of resistance to the effects of insulin by the body’s tissues.
Progressing throughout a person’s lifetime, factors such as genetics, diet, or the impacts of other health conditions such as obesity or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome contribute to Type 2 diabetes. Consequently, it is frequently diagnosed in the later stages of life. A precursor state known as prediabetes, characterized by elevated blood sugar levels without symptomatic manifestation, often precedes it.
Similar to the management of Type 1 diabetes, individuals with Type 2 diabetes control their disease by keeping a close watch on their diet and blood sugar levels and administering calculated doses of insulin when necessary.
Recent scientific findings suggest that researchers are now able to predict the likelihood of individuals developing Type 2 diabetes and approximate when this might occur.
According to the studies, Low birthweight is independently associated with a heightened risk of developing type 2 diabetes, often characterized by an earlier age of diagnosis.
The first study was conducted by Dr. Rasmus Wibaek and Dr. Allan Vaag, along with their team at Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen in Denmark and Lund University in Sweden. The study focused on adults between 30 and 60 years of age who were part of the Danish Inter99 cohort during 1999-2001. These participants did not have diabetes at the beginning of the study. Data about their birthweight was gathered from original birth records from 1939-1971 and linked to information about the age when they were diagnosed with diabetes. Statistical models were utilized to estimate the incidence rates of T2D based on age, sex, and birthweight while accounting for various factors such as prematurity, birth order, genetic risk scores, parental history of diabetes, socioeconomic status, and adult BMI.
Out of 4590 participants, 492 new cases of T2D were identified during an average follow-up period of 19 years. The study found that the incidence rate of T2D increased with age, was higher among men, and decreased proportionately with an increase in birthweight. For every additional kilogram in birthweight, there was a 40% reduction in the risk of developing T2D. Remarkably, the rate at which T2D incidence increased with age was significantly more pronounced among individuals with lower birthweights compared to those with higher birthweights.
These results imply that birthweight has a unique effect on the risk of developing T2D, independent of genetic predisposition and adult body weight. It suggests that low birth weight, which might be indicative of an unfavorable fetal environment, is almost as etiologically significant as genetic makeup in determining the risk of T2D.
A second study, also involving Dr. Vaag, and led by Dr. Aleksander L. Hansen of the Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, analyzed the records of 6866 individuals with T2D. This study evaluated age at diagnosis, body measurements, co-existing health conditions, medications, metabolic variables, and family history of T2D concerning birthweight. Statistical models were used, and weighted genetic scores for T2D and birthweight were computed to evaluate the influence of genetic factors.
This study demonstrated that a 1 kg reduction in birthweight correlated with an earlier onset of diabetes by 3.3 years, a 1.5 kg/m2 decrease in BMI, and a 3.9 cm reduction in waist circumference. Compared to the middle 50% of birthweights (3,000-3,700 g), individuals with a birthweight of less than 3,000 g had a higher number of co-morbidities, a 36% increased likelihood of having three or more additional health conditions, and a 26% higher probability of severe hypertension.
Furthermore, individuals with a birthweight under 3,000 g had a 28% increased risk of being diagnosed with T2D before the age of 45 and a 30% decreased risk of diagnosis after the age of 75. Additionally, birthweight below 3 kg was associated with a lower family history of T2D and a more significant likelihood of being of normal weight, but a lower likelihood of severe obesity.
Other associations with lower birthweight included a lower occurrence of diabetes-related neurological diseases and a 33% higher likelihood of using three or more medications to lower blood glucose levels.
Notably, extremely low birthweight (below 2.5 kg) showed even stronger associations, and higher birthweight displayed opposite
“Taken together, the two studies collectively,” according to the authors, “provide strong support for the following conclusions: an adverse fetal environment reflected by low birthweight is a strong and non-genetic risk factor not only of developing type 2 diabetes per se, but in addition for the development of a relatively more severe subtype of type 2 diabetes – with earlier disease onset, more complications, and co-morbidities, as well as with an increased need for clinical care and medical treatments.”
“The impact of low birthweight appears independent to that of genetics and obesity, which is why people with low birthweight are at a relatively increased risk for type 2 diabetes for any given increase in BMI. This, in turn, explains the finding of a lower BMI in low birthweight subjects at the time of type 2 diabetes onset. Low birthweight should therefore be considered as a criteria for screening for type 2 diabetes with same importance as that of a positive family history of diabetes. Notably, as the study by Wibaek et al. indicates, neither people with a lower birth weight, nor those with a high genetic risk of type 2 diabetes are actually at a particularly very high absolute risk of developing type 2 diabetes if they are able to keep a normal BMI throughout their lives. Finally, within the era of precision medicine, low birthweight holds the potential to be used as a marker to guide clinical care and treatment in type 2 diabetes.”
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