Human Anatomy, Physiology, and Medicine. Anything human!
Type 2 diabetes is not related to overworking of the pancreas or actually any dysfunction in the pancreas at all. It is due to increased insulin resistance of inslulin's target tissues. Thus, glucose cannot get into the cells and insulin levels remain high when the body tries to export the glucose into the cells. In other words, in type 2 diabetes there is little wrong with the insulin production and the problems are located in target tissues. In this regard it is the opposite of type 1 diabetes, where the islet cells in pancreas get damaged, but the target tissues are normal.
You cannot get type 2 diabetes just by eating sugar or other fast carbs. It is a complex disease that includes genetic factors and dietary factors. Obesity is one of the main causes - if you are obese, no matter because of excess sugar, protein or fat intake, the chances for type 2 diabetes to develop are increased. Risk genes combined with metabolic syndrome is a great way to get type 2 diabetes.
Eating sweets causes Type 2 diabetes indirectly. If you eat a lot of sweets and don't exercise regularly or eat healthy most of the time then you're at risk for obesity. If you're at risk for obesity then you could be pre-diabetic. If you do not severely limit your intake of sweets then you could be diagnosed with Type 2. So, does eating a large amount of sweets cause diabetes? Maybe.
Diabetes education needs to play a larger role in health class because children are suffering from a lack of knowledge. Fight childhood obesity. http://educatingmyselfaboutdiabetes.blogspot.com/
I should perhaps specify my previous answer. Some studies suggest that there might be some problem with beta cells also in type II diabetes, namely their in their ability to sense blood glucose levels. This might also contribute to the disease pathology. However, type II diabetes is still not related directly to the body's ability to produce insulin (as is the case with T1D), but rather a problem of proper utilization of the insulin and/or glucose by various tissues.
You can't prevent type 2 diabetes by not eating sweets. I think some people associate too much sugar with getting type 2 diabetes. Now if you have type 2 diabetes, then you definitely have to watch and limit your sugar intake but you also have to watch your carbs and the rest of your diet. But eating too much sugar or carbs can result in weight gain and obesity which raises one's risk of type 2 diabetes.
Regina - working in the lab
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