Learn about type I and type II diabetes mellitus, the genetic and environmental risk factors and ways to manage it
A discussion of type I and type II diabetes mellitus.
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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Transcript
[Music in]
NEIL LAMB: Type 1 diabetes historically has been called juvenile diabetes, because it most often strikes among children and--and among young adults. That description is changing for a couple of reasons. We're beginning to see more individuals in their 20s and 30s developing symptoms of type 1 diabetes, and we're seeing more and more children developing type 2 diabetes, fueled probably in part by the rise in obesity among children.
RON POTEAT: I'm Ron Poteat. I'm area president for Regions Bank in north Alabama, and I am a type 2 diabetic. About a year ago, as a result of a routine physical, my doctor said, "Hey, come in. I wanna talk to you about something." And he said, "You've got it." And I said, "What have I got?" He said, "Well, you're type 2 diabetic," which was not a complete shock to me, because I have a family history. And so my grandmother, my mother, and now I kind of crossed that threshold. And so it was a sobering moment for me to say, "Okay, I've kind of crossed over into--the--to--to this situation. And so it's made some pretty profound changes for me in the way I eat and the way I exercise and the choices that I make on a daily basis to help me manage through this. And--and so--but the by-product of those changed choices are as--I'm healthier, my weight has gone down, my blood sugar is under that threshold now. And it's--so it's something that I intend on managing going forward. It's not something that I don't think I can sustain. It's--it's a different way of life for me.
NEIL LAMB: In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes there are clear genetic and environmental risk factors. There are a number of genetic and environmental factors. We have a better handle on the genetics for type 1 diabetes, but there are still missing pieces in both. And we don't have a strong handle on the environmental factors. There are a number of longitudinal studies. That means we start with a group of patients when they're newborns, and we follow them for 10 or 15 years and identify who develops diabetes in the case of type 1 diabetes. We look at all the things that they've been exposed to, and that's the best type of study to give us a sense of what are the real environmental risks. Those have been going on for several years, and I think in the next three to five years we're gonna get some real answers about environment.
[Music out]
NEIL LAMB: Type 1 diabetes historically has been called juvenile diabetes, because it most often strikes among children and--and among young adults. That description is changing for a couple of reasons. We're beginning to see more individuals in their 20s and 30s developing symptoms of type 1 diabetes, and we're seeing more and more children developing type 2 diabetes, fueled probably in part by the rise in obesity among children.
RON POTEAT: I'm Ron Poteat. I'm area president for Regions Bank in north Alabama, and I am a type 2 diabetic. About a year ago, as a result of a routine physical, my doctor said, "Hey, come in. I wanna talk to you about something." And he said, "You've got it." And I said, "What have I got?" He said, "Well, you're type 2 diabetic," which was not a complete shock to me, because I have a family history. And so my grandmother, my mother, and now I kind of crossed that threshold. And so it was a sobering moment for me to say, "Okay, I've kind of crossed over into--the--to--to this situation. And so it's made some pretty profound changes for me in the way I eat and the way I exercise and the choices that I make on a daily basis to help me manage through this. And--and so--but the by-product of those changed choices are as--I'm healthier, my weight has gone down, my blood sugar is under that threshold now. And it's--so it's something that I intend on managing going forward. It's not something that I don't think I can sustain. It's--it's a different way of life for me.
NEIL LAMB: In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes there are clear genetic and environmental risk factors. There are a number of genetic and environmental factors. We have a better handle on the genetics for type 1 diabetes, but there are still missing pieces in both. And we don't have a strong handle on the environmental factors. There are a number of longitudinal studies. That means we start with a group of patients when they're newborns, and we follow them for 10 or 15 years and identify who develops diabetes in the case of type 1 diabetes. We look at all the things that they've been exposed to, and that's the best type of study to give us a sense of what are the real environmental risks. Those have been going on for several years, and I think in the next three to five years we're gonna get some real answers about environment.
[Music out]
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