Study: Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus increases if breast-feeding period is below 30 days

A study reported in the American Journal of Medicine revealed that breast-feeding for less than 1 month can increase the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. The study’s lead author, Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS, from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said, "Diet and exercise are widely known to impact the risk of Type 2 Diabetes, but few people realize that breastfeeding also reduces mothers' risk of developing the disease later in life by decreasing maternal belly fat."

Study:

The study aimed to examine the relationship amongst duration, exclusivity, and consistency of lactation with the risk of Type 2 Diabetes in 2233 female member of a healthcare delivery organization in California, aged between 40 and 78 years. The researchers controlled for age, parity, race, education, hysterectomy, physical activity, tobacco, and alcohol use, family history of diabetes, and body mass index using multivariable logistic regression.

Result: 

• Mothers who never exclusively breast-fed were more likely to have gone on to have Type 2 Diabetes as compared to those who exclusively breast-fed for 1 to 3 months 
• Compared with nulliparous women, those who consistently breast-fed their children for at least 1 month had a similar adjusted risk for Type 2 Diabetes
• Mothers who had never breast-fed an infant had greater risk 

To conclude, the authors added, "Risk of Type 2 Diabetes increases when term pregnancy is followed by <1 month of lactation, independent of physical activity and body mass index in later life. Mothers should be encouraged to exclusively breast-feed all of their infants for at least 1 month."

Symptoms of Mellitus Diabetes

Signs and symptoms of all types of Diabetes Mellitus are more likely to be similar since the blood sugar is high, either due to less or no production of insulin, or insulin resistance.

Overview of the most significant symptoms:

For Type 1:

During initial stage:

o   Nausea and vomiting

In later stage:

o   Weight loss – Since body starts breaking down the muscle tissue and fat for producing energy.

o   Dehydration – Due to electrolyte disturbance

In advanced stages:

o   Coma

o   Can also result into death

For Type 2:

• Increased fatigue - Due to inefficiency of the cell to metabolize glucose, reserve fat of body is metabolized to gain energy.
• Polydipsia – Excessive thirst
• Polyuria – Increase in urine production; body starts removing the extra sugar in the blood by excreting it through urine.
• Polyphegia – Increased hunger
• Weight fluctuation – Weight can rise due to increased appetite or weight can decrease due to factors like loss of water (Polyuria), Glucosuria, metabolism of body fat and protein.
• Blurry vision – Poor eyesight
• Irritability – a sign of high blood sugar
• Poor wound healing – High blood sugar blocks the growth of White Blood Cell (WBC), which is responsible for body immune system.
• Infections – Whenever there is fluctuation in blood sugar, skin infections like fungal or bacterial or UTI (urinary tract infection) become prominent.  

Symptoms when Diabetes turns into Autoimmune Disorder:

• Due to autoimmune infections, various skin, genito-urinary tract and respiratory problems can arise.
• Defective formation of various blood components like WBC's and platelets result in poor blood composition. This may result in complications like poor wound healing and easy susceptibility to injuries.
• If the disorders are not medicated at the early stage, problems such as blindness, cataract, gangrene, diabetic nephropathy, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic foot, etc. can occur. 

Main Causes of Diabetes Mellitus

The cause of Diabetes totally depends on its type. Type 1 Diabetes is partly inherited and then encouraged by certain infections some evidence pointing at Coxsackie B4 virus. However, even in those who have inherited the susceptibility, Type 1 Diabetes mellitus seems to require an environmental trigger. Type 2 Diabetes mainly results due to lifestyle factors and genetics.

Other Causes:

Genetic defects of β-cell Function

o   Maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY)

o   Mitochondrial DNA mutations

Genetic defects in insulin processing or insulin action

o   Defects in proinsulin conversion

o   Insulin gene mutations

o   Insulin receptor mutations

Exocrine Pancreatic Defects

o   Chronic pancreatitis

o   Pancreatectomy

o   Pancreatic neoplasia

o   Cystic fibrosis

o   Hemochromatosis

o   Fibrocalculous pancreatopathy

Endocrinopathies

o   Growth hormone excess (acromegaly)

o   Cushing syndrome

o   Hyperthyroidism

o   Pheochromocytoma

o   Glucagonoma

Infections

o   Cytomegalovirus infection

o   Coxsackievirus B

Drugs

o   Glucocorticoids

o   Thyroid hormone

o   β-adrenergic agonists

Diabetes Insipidus v/s Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes Insipidus (Water Diabetes)	Diabetes Mellitus (Sugar Diabetes)
Literally means bland or insipid urine	Literally means honey-sweet urine (back when doctors would sometimes actually taste people's urine to make a diagnosis)
Uncommon	Common
Caused by the lack of the antidiuretic hormone (vasopressin) or the kidney's inability to respond to this hormone	Caused by lack of the hormone insulin
Urination is more frequent and in much greater volumes than the more common sugar diabetes	Urination is less frequent and in much lesser volumes than Diabetes Insipidus
Diagnosed via Water deprivation test/vasopressin test	Diagnosed via Fast blood sugar-24hr. post-prandial test. Glucose tolerance test.

Diabetes Mellitus – Definition and Types

Diabetes Mellitus, often cited as Sugar Diabetes, is a metabolic disorder wherein body produces insufficient insulin or cells fail to respond to the insulin that is produced. Insulin is a hormone which is essential to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy. Diabetes Mellitus can be also stated as a polygenic disease and is characterized by abnormally high glucose levels (sugar) in the blood.

Types of Diabetes Mellitus

Basically, there are three main types of Diabetes Mellitus:

Type 1 Diabetes: An autoimmune disease which deals with loss of the insulin-producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas leading to insulin deficiency. In a simpler language, this type of diabetes happens when body fails to produce insulin. Type 1 Diabetes can be further classified as immune-mediated or idiopathic.

Type 2 Diabetes: Results when cells fail to use insulin properly, sometimes combined with an absolute insulin deficiency. Type 2 Diabetes is the most common type.

Gestational Diabetes: Resembles Type 2 Diabetes in several respects and usually defined as “Type 3 Diabetes”. This type happens when pregnant women, who have never had diabetes before, have a high blood glucose level during pregnancy. This type of diabetes occurs in about 2–5% of all pregnancies and may improve or disappear after delivery. Type 3 Diabetes is fully treatable. However, it requires careful medication throughout pregnancy. Around 20-50% of affected women develop Type 2 Diabetes later in life.

Other types of Diabetes Mellitus:

• Congenital Diabetes – Occurs due to genetic defects of insulin secretion
• Cystic fibrosis-related Diabetes
• Steroid Diabetes – Occurs when induced by high doses of glucocorticoids
• Several forms of Monogenic Diabetes