Abstract

BACKGROUND
The prevalence of diabetes has been rapidly increasing on a global scale. Genetic factors are important in the development of type 2 diabetes, but this alone cannot explain the rapid increase. Environmental factors are also known to have a major influence on the development of diabetes. This is especially common in those couples with a diabetic spouse, as both the people tend to share the same environmental factors such as nutrition, lifestyle and physical activity. This study intends to examine what environmental factors affect the development of diabetes mellitus in a healthy couple. METHODS: This study examined 21 couples where both people were diabetic and 20 couples where only one of the spouses was diabetic. Among the 21 diabetic couples, 12 males and 9 females became diabetic later than their spouses. Among the control group couples, 10 males and 10 females spouses didn't have diabetes. Both groups underwent basic checkups including measuring their height, weight, body fat, waist hip circumference, the difference in weight change after getting married, blood pressure and pulse rates. We also measured fasting glucose levels, cholesterol levels, total daily calorie intake and physical activity. RESULTS: In the comparison of the two groups, the patient group had a higher calorie consumption than control group(patient group: 1859.04+/-269.46kcal, vs. the control group: 1605.95+/-301.34 kcal, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggest that high calorie consumption could be an important factor in the development of a couple's diabetes

• Keywords: Couple;Environmental factor;Diabetes Mellitus;Calorie consumption;