Is Diabetes Genetic?

Helen said:

My brother has a healthy weight and is a couple of years older than I am. He is in the diabetic range. He gets his eyes checked regularly and the doctor says there is no sign of diabetes.

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Once that eye doctor can see diabetes in his eyes, he would be well on the path to various visitations which are not signs of diabetes, but rather complications of diabetes.

On a population level, the explosion in DM incidence is likely best seen as lifestyle related. On an individual level, many stories such as yours and your brother's strongly suggest heredity. So does my experience. I am 75, have a 32" waist and my max waist in my entire life was 33. Yet if I started eating freely my A1C would soon migrate from its current sub-6 range to a diabetic range It could be that there are variants of the illness, I would guess that people such as we might have weaker insulin production, rather than the storybook type 2 which is plenty insulin but a great deal of resistance.

We are still to some extent flying blind on this illness.

Ha

haha said:

Once that eye doctor can see diabetes in his eyes, he would be well on the path to various visitations which are not signs of diabetes, but rather complications of diabetes.

On a population level, the explosion in DM incidence is likely best seen as lifestyle related. On an individual level, many stories such as yours and your brother's strongly suggest heredity. So does my experience. I am 75, have a 32" waist and my max waist in my entire life was 33. Yet if I started eating freely my A1C would soon migrate from its current sub-6 range to a diabetic range It could be that there are variants of the illness, I would guess that people such as we might have weaker insulin production, rather than the storybook type 2 which is plenty insulin but a great deal of resistance.

We are still to some extent flying blind on this illness.

Ha

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There are multiple phases of DMII. A significant number of type II diabetics end up with little or no insulin production of their own and end up requiring intensive insulin therapy to control blood sugar levels.

DFW_M5 said:

There was something mentioned on the news the other day about taking a 10 minute walk immediately after eating to lower your post meal blood sugar. I found a link to an article on this strategy:
A 10-minute walk after every meal 'effective at controlling diabetes' - Health News - NHS Choices

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Thanks for posting this article. It is the best health related article I have ever read, all the explanation following the main text is very helpful!

Ha

harley said:

Quite interesting. I may give this a try. The results indicated a 12% improvement in BGL, which is actually significant. At least in my case. And 22% after the big meal of the day (usually dinner). Those types of numbers would knock me from diabetic to pre-diabetic. I'll give it a try for a month or so with testing and see how it works. Thanks for the post.

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haha said:

Thanks for posting this article. It is the best health related article I have ever read, all the explanation following the main text is very helpful!

Ha

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I am going to try this myself, especially the after dinner walk, although I don't bother with regular testing, just quarterly A1C. I have 1.5 months to go to my next A1C test. Since being declared diabetic and losing weight through exercise, my A1Cs range 5.6 - 5.9. I'd appreciate if you can report your results if you test more regularly.

DFW_M5 said:

I am going to try this myself, especially the after dinner walk, although I don't bother with regular testing, just quarterly A1C. I have 1.5 months to go to my next A1C test. Since being declared diabetic and losing weight through exercise, my A1Cs range 5.6 - 5.9. I'd appreciate if you can report your results if you test more regularly.

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Well, all I do is test my fasting level each day. I'm not going to do the 3 hour post-prandial that they did in the study, especially since I wouldn't have anything to compare it to. But without changing anything else in my routine I'll be curious to see how the after meal walks effect the fasting level. I've got a treadmill close by, so no excuse for skipping the walk. I'll let you know what, if any, difference I see.

I've been doing the walking after meals, particularly meals that are higher in carbs. It makes a big difference in my post-prandial numbers, but I haven't noticed a change in my fasting numbers.

I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes several years ago though I was not overweight nor do I have a family history (that I know of) of it. The VA says that I have diabetes because I was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam 40+ years ago. I take meds, exercise and watch what I eat. So far I'm still above ground.

ProspectiveBum said:

I've been doing the walking after meals, particularly meals that are higher in carbs. It makes a big difference in my post-prandial numbers, but I haven't noticed a change in my fasting numbers.

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Well, I'll have to see. The main reason I don't track my post-prandial numbers is that when I have they've always been normal. I mean normal, as in not diabetic. It's only my fasting numbers that are whacked. Even without meds my a1c has always been 5.7-6.0. But unmedicated my fasting numbers can approach 300. Weird. With my meds I stay in the 140s.

I've done the 10 min. walks twice now, and while I haven't done any testing and don't expect immediate results, I have noticed one beneficial effect. Whenever I eat a mid to large sized meal I go into a massive torpor, where I can barely keep myself from falling asleep. I don't know why, but I suspect it has something to do with my blood sugar and how my endocrine system deals with the fuel. I can usually fight the torpor off, but the walking wipes it out completely. I feel energized and able to do something other that sit on my butt and surf on the computer. So even if the blood sugar doesn't change I think I'll keep it up.

ProspectiveBum said:

I've been doing the walking after meals, particularly meals that are higher in carbs. It makes a big difference in my post-prandial numbers, but I haven't noticed a change in my fasting numbers.

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Can you educate me on this?

As I understand it (and I haven't studied much, but I am interested in avoiding future problems), a high glucose reading (130-140?) means that damage is being done? But fasting numbers will likely be far lower for most (I'm in the mid-high 90's).

But... a higher fasting number likely means that a post meal spike is hitting those dangerous levels. But it seems to me, if this after-meal walk lowers the spike, then the fasting number might not be as significant? As an example, a 90 fast reading with 140 spikes might be worse than a 100 fasting number with 130 spikes?

I get blood tests for cholesterol, and my fasting numbers are usually 95-99. I went for a glucose test when offered by the local pharmacy, and made a point to have a typical lunch (including a couple slices of whole grain bread) and the reading was still just high 90's. So from that one data point, I don't seem to spike much. But some activity after eating might still be a good idea.

-ERD50

harley said:

Well, I'll have to see. The main reason I don't track my post-prandial numbers is that when I have they've always been normal. I mean normal, as in not diabetic. It's only my fasting numbers that are whacked. Even without meds my a1c has always been 5.7-6.0. But unmedicated my fasting numbers can approach 300. Weird. With my meds I stay in the 140s.

I've done the 10 min. walks twice now, and while I haven't done any testing and don't expect immediate results, I have noticed one beneficial effect. Whenever I eat a mid to large sized meal I go into a massive torpor, where I can barely keep myself from falling asleep. I don't know why, but I suspect it has something to do with my blood sugar and how my endocrine system deals with the fuel. I can usually fight the torpor off, but the walking wipes it out completely. I feel energized and able to do something other that sit on my butt and surf on the computer. So even if the blood sugar doesn't change I think I'll keep it up.

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I am not diabetic and my annual blood test fasting glucose numbers have ranged from 70 to 95 thereabouts.

But I often suffer from post meal torpor - mainly after lunch, it seems. It coulée that lunch is usually my largest meal of the day.. And getting physically active definitely helps.

There are a bunch of different genes that have been identified for an assortment of variations on type I and II diabetes. Type II, especially, can sort of be viewed as a collection of similar diseases. They are pretty widely distributed genes, too, so many of us have risk factors for DM even though we may not know it. Older family members may not have been diagnosed with diabetes because standards for making the diagnosis have changed several times in the last few decades.

My A1C crept into pre-diabetes territory despite daily exercise and a BMI that topped out at 25 and change, but it's improved quite a bit with a BMI of 20-21. My blood pressure was also in the pre-hypertension range at the higher weight, but has been great since losing the extra pounds. I just used portion control and daily tracking to lose the weight. With all of the available apps, calorie counting or Weight Watchers point counting is easy and not really any more annoying than other daily obligations.

You might also want to talk to your doctor about the Newcastle diet for improving your insulin sensitivity. It's brutal, but meant to last only a few weeks and yet seems to provide ongoing improved blood glucose results.

ProspectiveBum said:

I've been doing the walking after meals, particularly meals that are higher in carbs. It makes a big difference in my post-prandial numbers, but I haven't noticed a change in my fasting numbers.

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I can understand that as my fasting numbers always run high due to dawn phenomena. Nevertheless, I would expect that it would have a positive effect on your A1Cs.

mickeyd said:

I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes several years ago though I was not overweight nor do I have a family history (that I know of) of it. The VA says that I have diabetes because I was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam 40+ years ago. I take meds, exercise and watch what I eat. So far I'm still above ground.

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If you haven't already, make sure you file a disability claim for it.

haha said:

Thanks for posting this article. It is the best health related article I have ever read, all the explanation following the main text is very helpful!

Ha

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+1

Good article, even for non-diabetics.

I've never really known whether exercise before or after eating is best. We tend to do both, particularly when walking we'll always try to wrap the walk around a meal. e.g. walk to a cafe for breakfast or lunch then walk back, or when hiking, which we do a lot we'll pack a lunch and eat it at the half way point.

exnavynuke said:

If you haven't already, make sure you file a disability claim for it.

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Thanks. 40%

haha said:

... I am 75, have a 32" waist and my max waist in my entire life was 33.

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Holy cow That is impressive!! When I lose weight, my legs get skinnier and my stomach stays the same size (or get seemingly bigger because I lose everywhere else...)

My parents both had type two and my little brother and grandmother. I was last to get it at age 65. I don't know how old grandma was when she got it but parents were about 75-83 and brother was 63 or so. I am the only one who doesn't take medicine for it. Parents and grandparents are dead now but dad and his mom took shots, mom and brother took metformin. All of us were heavy but genetics were bad too. So far I took Metformin the first 6 months then control with diet for now.

DFW_M5 said:

I am going to try this myself, especially the after dinner walk, although I don't bother with regular testing, just quarterly A1C. I have 1.5 months to go to my next A1C test. Since being declared diabetic and losing weight through exercise, my A1Cs range 5.6 - 5.9. I'd appreciate if you can report your results if you test more regularly.

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Well, this 10 minute walk after meals experiment works. While the A1C test is a 90 day snapshot, I only did the walks for the past ~ 45 days before getting my quarterly blood test. This year my prior quarterly tests had my A1C at 5.9, but I got the results back today and my A1C declined to 5.6 which is in the normal range. Further, over this period of time, I would also say I have not watched my eating all that well from a carb aspect. I am going to try to keep these walks up permanently weather permitting since I don't have a treadmill.

DFW_M5 said:

Well, this 10 minute walk after meals experiment works. While the A1C test is a 90 day snapshot, I only did the walks for the past ~ 45 days before getting my quarterly blood test. This year my prior quarterly tests had my A1C at 5.9, but I got the results back today and my A1C declined to 5.6 which is in the normal range. Further, over this period of time, I would also say I have not watched my eating all that well from a carb aspect. I am going to try to keep these walks up permanently weather permitting since I don't have a treadmill.

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Cool, and good to know. I started doing it, and it was making a difference just on my fasting levels. But we started going through all of our holiday stuff in order to donate what we don't need anymore, and the treadmill is a flat surface, so it quickly became unusable for walking. But now that's all gone, and we're going to be heading down to FL in a few weeks, so I'll try to get back on track. I'd love to drop my A1C down even more.

DFW_M5 said:

Well, this 10 minute walk after meals experiment works. While the A1C test is a 90 day snapshot, I only did the walks for the past ~ 45 days before getting my quarterly blood test. This year my prior quarterly tests had my A1C at 5.9, but I got the results back today and my A1C declined to 5.6 which is in the normal range. Further, over this period of time, I would also say I have not watched my eating all that well from a carb aspect. I am going to try to keep these walks up permanently weather permitting since I don't have a treadmill.

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Thanks for the update! I took your after meal idea to heart, so it's great to know that it helped you get back to the normal range!

But I needed the reminder. I do need to do the after lunch walks. Especially now when the weather isn't hot.

Our fasting blood sugars are normal, but I do often get after lunch sleepies.

There are people who are - Fat Inside and Thin Outside, Fat outside Thin Inside. It all depends on how much internal fat you have around your organs. My understanding is that sugar and highly processed foods are the big drivers of internal fat.

Chuckanut said:

There are people who are - Fat Inside and Thin Outside, Fat outside Thin Inside. It all depends on how much internal fat you have around your organs. My understanding is that sugar and highly processed foods are the big drivers of internal fat.

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Internal fat is definitely something you don't want. Other the other hand, I am not real keen on external fat either.

Chuckanut said:

There are people who are - Fat Inside and Thin Outside, Fat outside Thin Inside. It all depends on how much internal fat you have around your organs. My understanding is that sugar and highly processed foods are the big drivers of internal fat.

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I think this might be me. I have a BMI of 19, but I still carry extra weight around my belly. I really don't want to lose any weight, for one, I can't barely find pants that fit now (size 0 short). My A1C is .1 away from pre-diabetic. My diet is close to vegan (some wild caught salmon and some locally sourced eggs) and I don't eat too much processed food.

I may have to give up wine for three months then have another blood test. I don't think there is too much else I can do except try the 15 minute walk after meals.

Most people on this site who post to the health forum are very health conscious, and make pretty high bars for themselves. I think it is likely difficult to impossible to have a meaningful level of internal fat if one is physically active most days. And almost any middle aged woman who is not downright skinny will have some subcutaneous fat around her waist. I did Lindy hop and salsa for years, and these dancer women were all very fit judging from the fast dancing they could do, yet they mostly had a bit of soft subcutaneous around the waist. I would have been amazed if it mattered at all.

Extreme thinness may not be so great anyway, at leaat for women. There is an amazing profile in today's wsj of some thirty something woman who is a mudder. This woman was extremely fit, having won many of these endurance contests. She is 5'9"and 135 pounds, and very lean looking in a photo. Nevertheless she was running in a race and the next thing she knew she had an agonizing pain in her leg, because her femur had snapped. This is really not normal, and obviously not desireable.

I would love to continue dancing now that my hip is healed, my back has recovered, and my endurance is high again. But I have grown fond of going to bed early which mostly conflicts with dancing. But I do think that a steady diet of varied physical activity almost every day will go a long way toward doing whatever fitness can do to promote health. Fitness is important, but it is not a guarantee of no disease. There is also that jar full of white and black balls to contend with. I believe that fitness may well add some white balls, but it can't empty out all the black balls

Ha

haha said:

Most people on this site who post to the health forum are very health conscious, and make pretty high bars for themselves. I think it is likely difficult to impossible to have a meaningful level of internal fat if one is physically active most days. And almost any middle aged woman who is not downright skinny will have some subcutaneous fat around her waist. I did Lindy hop and salsa for years, and these dancer women were all very fit judging from the fast dancing they could do, yet they mostly had a bit of soft subcutaneous around the waist. I would have been amazed if it mattered at all.


Ha

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Subcutaneous fat is not harmful, it's fat around your organs that is a problem.