Type 1 diabetes Risks for this type of diabetes include inborn factors, such as genes that predispose to diabetes. This implies that environmental factors may play an important role. Current research is focused on defining more precisely the nature of these and other environmental agents and how they interact with specific genes to produce the illness. Type 2 diabetes Researchers have found that genetic predispositions to type 2 diabetes are even more important than in type 1. Scientists are actively uncovering multiple new genes that predispose a patient to type 2 diabetes.
Obesity is the most important environmental factor in patients that are genetically predisposed.
African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans are at substantially higher risk. And the risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases with age. About a fifth of all Americans between 65 and 74 years of age have diabetes. Parts of the above sections use, with permission, material provided by Ageworks and the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California.