Diabetes: In the Genes?

Filed in archive Research on April 13, 2006

When we think of the word 'malnourished,' images of starving children usually come to mind: tiny figures with prominent ribs, swollen stomachs, and thinning hair. But did you know that a person can be overweight, normal weight, or obese, and still be malnourished?

The term simply means the state of not getting enough vitamins and other essential nutrients from your food, as opposed to not having enough food, as most people believe.

No doubt about it, we are a world heading towards epidemic malnourishment. And this 'bad nutrition' has a direct link with diabetes, as evidenced by the hugely increasing numbers of diabetes diagnoses. But science is hoping to help change that.

Scientists have discovered a gene they believe contributes to the likelihood of developing Malnutrition Modulated Diabetes Mellitus (MMDM).

Even as diabetes has acquired the form of epidemic across the world, researchers here have claimed to have achieved a major breakthrough by identifying a new gene that causes increased susceptibility towards development of malnutrition related diabetes.

The discovery is poised to add new dimension to the forms of diabetes while opening up avenues for further research into dealing with the disease that has shattered all notions about itself. Diabetes is no longer considered to be a rich man's lifestyle related disease or an adult phenomenon and has acquired all-inclusive - from young to old, rich and poor - proportions.

Although this may well be an important development in diabetes research, it does raise a concern: if people believe that developing diabetes is inevitable, will they give up on trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

What do you think: is diabetes mostly in your choices, or in your genes?