Does Obesity Cause Diabetes Type 2? Essay

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Obesity cause Diabetes Type 2?

From the time people came into existence; they have witnessed changes in virtually every aspect of life including the global environment, food production, health concerns, demographic growth, and so forth. Nevertheless, the capacity to adapt to the changes has facilitated the inhabitants to survive and have an improved lifestyle. However, as the globe penetrated into the twenty-first century, the standard of living of numerous people has altered to a great extent due to the technological advancements and innovations. People are now in a race where everyone wants to win success, prosperity, and affluence because of which they have neglected or overlooked the aspect of their health (Stern & Kazaks, 2009). Therefore, health has become an escalating and emerging concern in this epoch across the world.

However, when taking health issues under consideration, obesity has been observed as one of the epidemics that have been witnessed amongst the populace (irrespective of the age factor) from all over the globe. Obesity is an acute state and endemic health issue that is related to excessive fatness or chubbiness. Obesity is caused when the unnecessary fats with the body accumulate and lead the human body to increase in volume to an extreme level and makes the person excessively overweight. It is a complex phenomenon that usually has a have negative and deteriorating effects on the health of the people who suffer from this epidemic (Stern & Kazaks, 2009).

Alarming and shocking results have come to the forefront from the statistical records that more than one fourth of the American population is at risk to suffer from the disease of obesity. Obesity is not restricted to the population of the United States, but it has spread across the world, and increasing number of people from different parts of the globe are likely to suffer from this epidemic (Stern & Kazaks, 2009).

The technological boom has largely drifted the trend of working physically because the general public of the nations has become much reliant upon machines. As an outcome, the manual or physical exercise has reduced immensely. Even though, the innovations have alleviated the burden of strenuous activities of the human beings, but, at the same time, it has also led to the accumulation of body fats, which is making the people vulnerable to obesity. It simply indicates the fact that lack of physical exercise is one of the major reasons of obesity (Stern & Kazaks, 2009).

Although the field of medicine has encountered numerous advancements, yet, reliable cure to curb obesity has not been found by the experts. Therefore, the enormity of obesity is conducive to the development of several diseases, specifically when a person enters in his/her later years of life. It has been an observation that Diabetes Type 2 is one of the widespread diseases caused by obesity.

Diabetes is a disorder that is associated with abnormal metabolism within the human body. When the level and quantity of the glucose within the human body escalates largely and it cannot be properly utilized then it leads to the metabolic disorder of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, which is normally initiated in later years of life, is attributed to a disorder in which human body cells fail to detect the presence of insulin in the blood. Unlike type 1 diabetes, in type 2 diabetes insulin is produced by pancreas and is released into the blood. However, the receptors for the hormone, which is present on the cell membrane, do not function properly; hence, glucose cannot be properly used and metabolized (Barnett, 2012).

Type 2 diabetes was once associated with people of middle or old age, however, this is becoming more common and widespread amongst the younger generation, especially the ones who suffer from obesity. Extensive research studies have claimed that diabetes type 2 and obesity are inextricably associated with one another. In fact, according to the statistical records, more than two third of the U.S. population diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are commonly observed to be overweight (obese). It is predominantly because lack of intake of nutrients (consumption of foods with high fats), as well as sedentary lifestyles, is the universal environmental factor that result in obesity, which are amongst the common symptoms of Type 2 diabetes (Barnett, 2012).

There are numerous drawbacks of being obese that affect the human body in several deleterious ways. One of the prime effects is the loss of body's capability to regulate blood glucose level.

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Additionally, accumulation of excessive fats in the body renders the insulin receptors inactivated, which is conducive to the lack of response by the body when glucose concentration in blood escalates (Barnett, 2012).

Initially, obesity leads to the development of insulin resistance, but, with the passage of time it could worsen the conditions to result in the onset of a full-fledged disease. In both the cases, insulin released from the pancreas fail to bind with its receptors on body cells; thus, cells could not be triggered to uptake excess glucose present outside the cells. As a consequence, glucose reserves cannot be built because excess glucose gets wasted and body's energy store (in the form of stored glucose) gets depleted (Barnett, 2012). However, this disturbed mechanism can be compared with normal insulin signaling in a healthy human being while studying the latter as given in the diagram below:

(Manning, n.d.)

Under normal conditions, insulin gets bind to the specific receptors present on cell surface membrane and increases the cell permeability for absorbing glucose. Once the glucose is taken up by the cells, they either undergo the respiration cycle to yield energy for fueling up body processes or gets stored (if in excess). These reserves are used when body requires energy for performing any kind of function. However, obesity begets to loss in receptor sensing ability; hence, the normal processes are hampered (Barnett, 2012).

Extensive studies (Schuster, 2010) that have been carried out in the U.S. over years lay key emphasis on the fact that if an individual is obese, the chances of developing type 2 diabetes increases to a large extent. To be more specific, the people who put on fat around their abdomen (stomach) escalate the possibility of type 2 diabetes. In this respect, experts have highlighted few theories to elucidate how obesity is associated with type 2 diabetes. According to the first theory, fat metabolism is profoundly disrupted with obesity (Schuster, 2010). The cells that are insulin responsive cells surround the fat molecules that are released into the blood due to obesity get inside. As an outcome, the fat molecules disturb the entire cycle with which cells react to insulin (Schuster, 2010).

The other theory claims that pro-inflammatory chemicals are discharged by the fat cells when the human body accumulates excess body fats around their bellies (Schuster, 2010). Same outcome is observed as the chemicals disrupts the cycle of insulin responsive cells and make them insulin resistant. On an overall basis, all the three studies conclude that the obesity triggers immense changes within the human body that results in the development of type 2 diabetes. It is specifically because the elevated amount of fatty tissues has a direct impact on the cells that make them resistant to insulin (Schuster, 2010).

Previous studies, on a universal basis, have declared that obesity and diabetes type 2 are closely linked to one another. However, recent studies, in this respect, have brought controversial results that exhibit difference in opinion. Surprising fact has come to the surface with few empirical studies where people with normal weight are equally susceptible to the development of type 2 diabetes, similar to obese people. People are not comprehensively aware of this reality because neither scientific literature has yet focused or written about the other factors of type 2 diabetes; nor, has the media brought focus on this aspect (Schuster, 2010).

Nevertheless, the studies reveal that it has not received much attention because nearly one in three people is undiagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It is specifically because of the perception that lean or skinny people are not prone to the development of this disorder due to which they are left unidentified with the disease. Therefore, the research studies over the couple of years invalidate the myth and traditional concept of the relationship of obesity with type 2 diabetes that only excessively fat people are likely to suffer from this syndrome (Schuster, 2010).

From an empirical study carried out with normal weighted people of Asian descents, it has come to notice that these skinny people have a greater incidence of diabetes type 2 when compared to their counterparts of other descents. According to the investigation, the insulin resistance was at a much higher rate amongst the lean Asian people. Moreover, these people also suffered from fatty liver disease, which has been identified as one of the major causes of the development of type.....

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