Diabetes is a disease that effects roughly 200 million people around the world, and now researchers have found new genes that may increase the risk of diabetes.
A group of four research teams recent studies show insight into the role played by genes in a disease influenced by behavior such as eating too much and exercising too little. These findings will published on Thursday in the Science and Nature Genetics journal.
These researchers hope their studies will lead to the development of new drugs to treat type 2 diabetes, previously known as adult-onset diabetes. In addition, researchers hope this will lead to genetic testing in determining if a person is prone to developing type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing worldwide diseases, but the cause of this disease is only vaguely known, and because of this, treatment and prevention efforts have been restricted.
This study involved scientists reviewing the 22,000 genes that make up the human genome. In addition, about 50,000 people with and without diabetes from countries all over the world were used in this study.
Scientists were able to discover about eight genes that give a clear indication of diabetes risk factors. Three of these genes were previously unknown to scientists who study this disease. Scientists state all eight of these genes are common in the general population.
Michael Boehnke of the University of Michigan, who led one of the teams, believes these teams have made a huge leap in the understanding of the genetic variants that contribute as risk factors to type 2 diabetes.
These researchers are quick to point out that how these three new genes play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes is still unclear. However, these researchers believe that 2 of these genes might be linked to the development, function and regeneration of certain insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Even though scientists have always known that heredity was a big cause in the development of diabetes, it has not been until recently that scientists have found certain genes that may also contribute to a person developing this disease.
Type 2 diabetes usually develops in people over 40 who are overweight, less active people, but researchers are now seeing this type of diabetes more and more in younger people, including children, who are obese.
There is still plenty of research to be done on the causes of type 2 diabetes, so researchers still feel the best way to combat this ever growing disease is by making correct lifestyle choices because obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise still play a major role in the development of diabetes.
Read more about this diabetes research at Yahoo News
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