Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are different because they are both caused by different levels of insulin deficiency. A Type 1 diabetic is unable to produce insulin altogether while a Type 2 diabetic is either insulin resistant or unable to produce sufficient quantities of insulin. People with Type 2 diabetes are by far the most common, with around 19 out of 20 diabetics falling into this category. The causes of diabetes has remained a mystery for some time, however many consider diabetes to be genetic. Certain Childhood ailments are also proposed as another potential reason for diabetes.
Persons affected with type-1 diabetes are found to have common physical attributes of being thin while type-2 diabetic patients are mostly overweight. In the case of type-1 diabetes, the glucose channels open and absorb glucose to be utilized by the body after the induction of insulin while for type 2 diabetics, the glucose receptors are unable to open and absorb glucose, and therefore glucose cannot be utilized by the body.
Causes of Type 1 diabetes
Causes of Type 2 diabetes
Genetics plays an important role in the chances of developing both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The risk of developing diabetes depends on whether your parents or siblings have diabetes. If your parents are diabetics, then you are more likely to be affected by diabetes. There are certain statistical facts supporting this discussion. If both parents are affected by type 1 diabetes, it increases the chance of the kid getting affected by 30%. If both mother and father are affected by type 2 diabetes, it increases the child's chance of getting affected by 75%.
Other reasons include environmental factors and lifestyle. Several experts believe that environmental factors can act as "initiators" or "accelerators" for diabetes. There are certain genes known as susceptibility genes and they face greater risk of developing diabetes.