9781422288450

26 / Health Issues Caused by Obesity

Tara’s mother has five sisters. She and two of these sisters are overweight.

Tara’s grandmother is also overweight. One day, Tara overhears her mother

talking with her doctor.

“Well,

two

of my sisters developed diabetes in their fifties. . . . Yes, Mom

has it, too . . . uh huh . . . I see. . . . Will I need insulin?”

The lightbulb goes off in Tara’s mind: her mom has diabetes.

I don’t get it,

she puzzles.

I thought you were born with diabetes, but Mom never had it before

After a moment Tara begins to worry.

Will Mom be okay? Can I get it, too?

There are three main kinds of diabetes: type 1 diabetes (also called juvenile

diabetes), type 2 diabetes (previously called adult-onset), and gestational

diabetes. All forms of diabetes are related to the way blood-sugar levels (the

amount of sugar that is in your bloodstream at any given time) are regu-

lated by insulin (the hormone responsible for getting sugar out of the

bloodstream and into your cells). The different forms of diabetes, however,

have different causes. Type 1 diabetes is an

autoimmune

disorder in

which a person’s immune system (the system responsible for killing viruses,

bacteria, and diseased cells) attacks and destroys the beta cells in the pan-