T2 diabetes and waist size

What came first ? The waist or the diabetes ? Does one cause the other ? If so, what way around ?


http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/07July/Pages/Warning-over-waistline-link-to-type-2-diabetes.aspx

i'm still fairly convinced that while being overweight might well be an indicator for T2, the NHS recommended diet is also a major factor. i was initially told to go onto the NHS diet due to a small increase in cholesterol levels, my weight at the time was OK, I only started having problems once I was following the nice guidelines which was far higher in starchy foods than I had been eating before. Cholesterol kept going up and before long my BG's were starting to cause concert too, plus I was lacking energy and started putting on weight although I was never vastly overweight or obese.

I agree, but what are your thoughts on whether obesity is a cause or a sign of diabetes ? I'm still not sure myself. There are arguments that 80% of obese people aren't T2 but is that a guess or fact ? Also, how many of those 80% are actually tested for diabetes ? The figure may be much higher ? Not sure.

Too tricky for me to answer but as an anecdote-A few people I have known and who have been slim all their lives,BAM and they gained a load of weight,out of the blue,no change in lifestyle,No rhyme and reason and within a year they've received a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes...soooooo IF I had to pick which came first in a 'Chicken and egg' scenario I would put my money on the metabolic syndrome coming first .

All I can say is from my personal experience. I was overweight long before I had Type 2, and I know that for sure because annual blood tests told me I wasn't diabetic. My type 2 started at some point during the year 2013. Between January 2013 and January 2014 I became a type 2 with an HbA1c of 53 (7%). I was overweight, just below the BMI cut off point of obese, for a few years previous to this. So no, my diabetes did not make me obese/overweight. What did give me diabetes, I believe, was eating a lot more sweet stuff during 2013 (never had a sweet tooth before) due to other issues.

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I've always had a larger waist size even as a young child, I've just become more apple-y over the years

Admin wrote:What came first ? The waist or the diabetes ? Does one cause the other ? If so, what way around ?


http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/07July/Pages/Warning-over-waistline-link-to-type-2-diabetes.aspx

Definitely not the waist with me Mo, on diagnosis I was a size 32 waist, having had no symptoms if it had not been for a routine blood test I could have gone for years undiagnosed.

I put it down to a traumatic experience I had a year before diagnosis which left me depressed and ending up on anti-depressants, I have found there is a tentative link to the drugs I was on and diabetes.

Graham

I definitely think the thicker waist line was a dead giveaway of metabolic syndrome for me and it got decidedly worse after menopause. What pushed me over the edge for all 3 times I got diagnosed (2x prediabetes and 1x Type 2) was quitting smoking and putting on 30+ lbs. Only the last time losing the weight didn't restore my insulin response. I think I'd used up all my chances by then. I kick myself now for not being proactive the first two times, but hindsight is a marvellous thing.

An old friend used to refer to middle-aged spread as "thick like an old dog" - think it describes it perfectly!