Diabetes management goal of diabetes care, although recent research suggests that the complications of diabetes may be caused by genetic factors or, in type 1 diabetics, by the continuing effects of the autoimmune disease which first caused the pancreas to lose its insulin-producing ability. Because blood sugar levels fluctuate throughout the day and glucose records are imperfect indicators of these changes, the percentage of hemoglobin which is glycosylated is used as a proxy measure of long-term glycemic control in research trials and clinical care of people with diabetes. This test, the hemoglobin A1c or glycosylated hemoglobin reflects average glucoses over the preceding
Lifestyle causes of diabetes mellitus type 2 and 2000s is believed to have led to the increase in type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents. Studies have shown that a reduction in sleep is associated with a significant increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes. This could account for the increased incidence of diabetes in developed countries in the last decades, since "the causes of this pandemic are not fully explained by changes in traditional lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity", and "one behavior that seems to have developed during the past few decades and has become highly prevalent, particularly amongst Americans, is sleep