What is the secret of protecting against diabetes, what are its types, and how do we assess weight?

These and other questions we raise in this report ...

Diabetes is a metabolic disease caused by a deficiency of the hormone insulin or a weakening of the normal response of the body's cells to insulin, which introduces the sugar in the blood (glucose) into the cells, and in both cases the result is similar, as blood glucose levels rise above the normal limit, and this leads to negative effects On the body sooner and later.

We start with the secret of protecting against diabetes, and with the question, "Can we avoid diabetes if we adopt a healthy lifestyle and avoid all causes?"

This is what British scientists have been researching and experiments to answer, as their research results were presented during the European Conference on Cardiovascular Diseases 2020, whose activities continued via cyberspace from August 29 to September 1.

According to Deutsche Welle, citing the German MDR website, the research team used data from the UK health system, where data from more than 450,000 people of both sexes were examined.

The search lasted for five years, when the data were divided into groups according to age, sex and mass, and a comparison of health data was made after five years.

Types of diabetes

Before we proceed to find out the results of the study, we have to know the types of diabetes, namely:

Type 1 diabetes

It is also called insulin dependent diabetes, and juvenile diabetes.

It is an autoimmune disease, in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas, which leads to a gradual decrease in the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas.

The disease develops before the age of 35 years, and those with it are usually between 10 and 16 years old.

It accounts for 5% to 10% of people with diabetes.

Treatment of type 1 diabetes requires the patient to be given insulin by injection or by pump, and this leads to a decrease in blood glucose and control.

Type 2 diabetes

It is called non-insulin dependent diabetes and adult diabetes, in which the cells' sensitivity to insulin decreases, that is, the degree of response of the body's cells to it decreases. This is called “insulin resistance,” because the cells resist the insulin hormone whose job it is to get glucose into them.

People with this type are usually obese, and therefore weight reduction and dietary modification are the first treatment mechanisms, in addition to medicines, some of which stimulate the secretion of insulin from the pancreas, and some of them increase the sensitivity of cells to the hormone.

This type usually affects people over the age of 40 years, and accounts for 90% of people with diabetes, and genetics contributes to it more than type 1 diabetes, and obesity is one of the most important factors for diabetes.

What did the study show?

Back to the study, as a comparison of data showed that 31,298 people developed type 2 diabetes during that period.

It was noticed that those with the highest BMI had an 11-fold increased chance of developing the disease compared to the less weighted participants.

Experiments have shown the link between body mass and the possibility of developing diabetes, as the chance of infection increases with the magnitude of body mass, regardless of the risk of genetic diseases, and the extent of the previous infection of parents with genetic diseases.

Important advice

"People who exceed a certain body mass index limit are more likely to develop diabetes and remain at the same high risk level, regardless of how long they are overweight," explains study director Brian Ferrens from the University of Cambridge. German site "In Franken".

However, doctors emphasized that the BMI threshold, which plays a role in developing abnormal blood sugar levels, varies from person to person.

The researchers recommended that if you want to protect yourself from diabetes, you only have to start losing weight immediately, because the sooner a person starts a diet, the more successful this common disease can be avoided.

So the secret of protecting against type 2 diabetes - which accounts for 90% of diabetes cases in the world - is weight loss, and one of the best ways to assess whether you are overweight is body mass index, which is a number that is calculated using the person’s height and weight, which is A reliable indicator in most cases for assessing overweight or underweight in most people.

The body mass index does not measure the amount or percentage of body fat, but researchers have found that it is usually related to the proportion of fat in the body, and therefore it is an indicator of the amount of fat in a person, and it is also a way to assess health risks using a person's weight and height.

How is it calculated?

The body mass index (BMI) is calculated by dividing the person’s weight in kilograms by the square of his height in meters, for example if a person’s height is 170 centimeters and his weight is 75 kilograms, then 170 centimeters are converted into a meter unit becomes 1.7, then the weight is divided by his square:


75 / (1.7 x 1.7) a square and the result in this case is 25.95.

How to read the results?

For people who have reached the age of 20 years or more, the BMI is evaluated through the following:

  • Less than 18.5: A person is underweight, which may lead to a weakened immune system and an increased risk of osteoporosis, and underweight may be associated with a person suffering from an eating disorder.

  • 18.5 to 24.9: Weight is normal, which means that there are no health risks associated with weight on a person's health, with the assurance that this does not mean that there are no health risks associated with other things.

  • 25 to 29.9: The person is overweight.

  • 30 or more: the person is obese.