Thanks Tripster. So it seems that despite lifestyle, some people are just pre-disposed to Type 2 diabetes? I don't fall into that category but I know lots of people who lead similar levels of little exercise, poor diet and yet don't have diabetes. No one in my family has or had diabetes. I suppose I just have myself and my sedate lifestyle the last 10 or 15 years to thank for my condition. No one to blame for that but myself.
Diabetes describes a medical condition whereby your Pancreas isn't producing Insulin properly. For Type 1 DIabetics this is due to an auto-immune response that has damaged the pancreas such that it pretty much gives up producing Insulin. After a short period of having artificial insulin, it tends to give up altogether. If Type 1 Diabetics don't manage their diabetes, it can be quickly fatal.
In Type 2 diabetes the cause of the problems with the pancreas tend to be linked to lifestyle. It can be fatty, exhausted, had too much pressure put on it during pregnancy etc. Causes can be too little exercise, too much alcohol, too much sugar making it work too hard. For many people It can be managed or reversed to a degree with lifestyle changes, weight loss, more exercise, dietary changes etc although some Type 2's will still require blood testing and Insulin injections. There are increased risk factors around family history and mental health, which is the pre-disposition you refer to. Type 2 Diabetics tend to be the ones that require additional input toward the end of life and the ones for whom failure to manage their condition adds in many more health risks and why you hear "Diabetes" mentioned in the same sentence as "co-morbidities".
Whenever you hear "DIabetes" mentioned in a movie or a joke it is *always* type 2 that is being referred to. This casual use of "Diabetes" for Type 2 really annoys Type 1s. Ed Gamble has a nice comedy routine about a movie (Con-Air?) where they are desperate to get Insulin to treat a type 1 diabetic who has gone into hypo where they should actually be demanding Jelly-Babies.
A lot of it is still a mystery. For example my daughter is Type 1, but we don't know why she became type 1 Diabetic at 11 years of age. It just happened. Something somewhere started doing things with her immune system. Luckily she is managing really well so far.
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Going back to the topic, the Lycra thing is more about whether *you* feel comfortable going full MAMIL. The BiL has no problem looking like a lycra legume but he is tall and thin. Personally I don't think this look suits a short fat man on a bike, and I prefer to have baggies with a lycra undershort, and a loose wicking sport shirt.