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 curtailment". Research also suggests intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) or prenatal undernutrition (macro- and micronutrient) as another probable factor. Studies of those who were small or disproportionately thin or short at birth, or suffered prenatal exposure during period of famine such as the Dutch Hunger Winter (1944–1945) during World War II, have shown that they are prone to higher rates of diabetes. Environmental toxins may contribute to recent increases in the rate of type 2 diabetes. A weak positive correlation has been found between the concentration in the urine of bisphenol A, a constituent of some plastics, and the incidence of