Risk Factors for Deaths due to Diabetes as Underlying Cause

Risk Factors

Risk factors for diabetes include age, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, family history, hypertension, and dyslipidemia (including high blood cholesterol or triglycerides). The more risk factors a person has, the greater his or her chance of developing diabetes. Prediabetes is a condition in which a person's blood sugar levels are elevated but not quite high enough to meet the clinical threshold for diabetes. Unless steps are taken, most people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes. Having had gestational diabetes during pregnancy is also a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes.