There is a lot of talk about diabetes increasing risks of other diseases, especially cardiovascular and kidney disease. The question is, are these things caused by diabetes, or are all of them including diabetes caused by something else.

As an example, studies show that those who are most at risk of cardiovascular disease and strokes include those that are obese, have high LDL cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol and are highly sedentary. Other studies show that those with (in particular Type 2) diabetes also fall into the same categories. Does this mean that diabetes is the cause for these other diseases, or at least does it mean that having diabetes puts you at higher risk?

The answer is a little more complicated than some would have you believe (at least this is my conviction). Yes, you at a statistically greater risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke if you have diabetes but not “because” you have diabetes. Because those who have diabetes are statistically more likely to be overweight, have high cholesterol and blood pressure and lead a sedentary lifestyle it is these factors that may increase the risks of complications and other diseases.

However, diabetes doesn’t mean you have to fall into those categories. It is likely with a diagnoses of Type 2 that you have fallen into those categories before, there is no reason to believe that this is unavoidable.

If blood pressure, cholesterol, fitness are not in the danger zones, then there is no reason why those with diabetes are any more at risk of cardiovascular disease than anyone else. It may however be more challenging to maintain a healthy fitness when you have diabetes.

Statistics can prove falsehoods. Often it’s a case of correlation does not prove causation. If I spend the day with my arm up in the air. and then win the lottery. does this mean that having my arm up in the air caused me to win? Clearly not.

I believe then that it isn’t diabetes that increases risks of other diseases, but rather having a body that is at risk due to lifestyle puts you at greater risks.

This may be a small distinction for many people – and I am not here considering the fact that “uncontrolled” diabetes can cause damage to the blood vessels and that itself can cause cardiovascular problems – I do not call that into question here. The reason I am making this distinction though is that blaming diabetes for an increase in cardiovascular disease makes it difficult to think about what you can do to reduce your risks of other diseases. It muddies the waters and hides the truth in obscurity.

If you live a healthy lifestyle, have a healthy weight, have healthy levels of cholesterol, have a healthy blood pressure, then your risks of cardiovascular disease is dramatically reduced. This is the same for those who are diabetic and those who are not.

The title of this post though is probably still a little unclear. I believe I have offered a reasonable argument for why diabetes itself is not responsible (in the main) for these other diseases, but in that case what is?

Firstly it is having an unhealthy lifestyle, unsafe cholesterol and blood pressure as previously mentioned. However these may all be caused by eating an incorrect diet.

In the UK the government has decided that 30% of our intake should come from starchy carbohydrates. It is true that many today eat (many eat far more that 30% of their intake as carbs). Following this diet would likely help these ones. However the problem occurs when a metabolic disorder is in play.

For those with a carbohydrate metabolic disorder, processing of carbs does not take place efficiently. This causes an increase of sugar in blood, and carbs being stored as body fat because they cannot be efficiently used. Hunger is not satiated as the energy in the carbs is not released into the cells effectively so people eat even more.

Eating more carbs then causes more weight gain but also more hunger. Being overweight also makes it more difficult to effectively lead an active lifestyle so the problem exacerbates itself.

Having such a metabolic disorder does also put someone at higher risk of diabetes, and being overweight or obese increases the chances that this disorder turns into full blown diabetes. The system gets overloaded, insulin production goes up for a long period of time but due to an imbalance does not do what it should and so eventually the beta cells in the pancreas can stop functioning correctly. By this time the damage has been done – you have diabetes.

I maintain then that it is the diet that has been pushed for decades (with some variation) that has caused the increase in both diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is not caused by diabetes, but rather both are an unfortunate side effect of the diet recommended by the government.

To be fair this is not just a UK issue, in the US the same issue has happened and again it has been suggested that this is caused by following government advice on diet.

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