New York: Type 2 diabetes is often triggered by a sedentary lifestyle or poor diet. At the same time, however, some people have genes that make it much more likely they will develop the disease. In other words, they are far more susceptible to developing diabetes.
“More people with a high genetic risk of developing type 2 diabetes are now developing the disease than they did in the past,” said Vera Vik Bjarko.
Bjarko is a PhD research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU’s) Department of Public Health and Nursing. She and her colleagues recently published an article in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
This time, the study included data from more than 86,000 people with almost 200,000 measurements. The data were taken from The HUNT Study (the Trondelag Health Study), in which data collection began as early as 1984.
“We see that the difference in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes between people with high and low genetic predisposition to the disease increased from the 1980s to the 2010s,” explained Bjarko.
But why are more people with a high genetic predisposition developing type 2 diabetes than before? “We believe it is possible to view this as closely linked to societal changes,” said Bjarko.
“Our interpretation of the findings is that people with a high genetic risk are especially vulnerable in a society that may be more conducive to developing diabetes,” explained Bjarko.
