Lifestyle factors are important to the development of type 2 diabetes, including obesity and being overweight (defined by a body mass index of greater than 25), lack of physical activity, poor diet, stress, and urbanization. Excess body fat is associated with 30% of cases in those of Chinese and Japanese descent, 60–80% of cases in those of European and African descent, and 100% of cases in Pima Indians and Pacific Islanders. Among those who are not obese, a high waist–hip ratio is often present. Smoking appears to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Dietary factors also influence the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks in excess is associated with an increased risk. The type of fats in the diet are important, with saturated fats and trans fatty acids increasing the risk, and polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat decreasing the risk. Eating a lot of white rice appears to play a role in increasing risk. A lack of exercise is believed to cause 7% of cases. Persistent organic pollutants may play a role.

People with diabetes show an increased rate of urinary tract infection. The reason is bladder dysfunction that is more common in diabetics than in non-diabetics due to diabetic nephropathy. When present, nephropathy can cause a decrease in bladder sensation, which in turn, can cause increased residual urine, a risk factor for urinary tract infections.

Complications of poorly managed type 1 diabetes mellitus may include cardiovascular disease, diabetic neuropathy, and diabetic retinopathy, among others. However, cardiovascular disease as well as neuropathy may have an autoimmune basis, as well. Women with type 1 DM have a 40% higher risk of death as compared to men with type 1 DM. The life expectancy of an individual with type 1 diabetes is 11 years less for men and 13 years less for women.

The development of type 2 diabetes is caused by a combination of lifestyle and genetic factors. While some of these factors are under personal control, such as diet and obesity, other factors are not, such as increasing age, female gender, and genetics. A lack of sleep has been linked to type 2 diabetes. This is believed to act through its effect on metabolism. The nutritional status of a mother during fetal development may also play a role, with one proposed mechanism being that of altered DNA methylation. The intestinal bacteriæ Prevotella copri and Bacteroides vulgatus have been connected with type 2 diabetes.

Breast feeding is good for the child even with a mother with diabetes mellitus. Some women wonder whether breast feeding is recommended after they have been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Breast feeding is recommended for most babies, including when mothers may be diabetic. In fact, the child’s risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus later in life may be lower if the baby was breast-fed. It also helps the child to maintain a healthy body weight during infancy. However, the breastmilk of mothers with diabetes has been demonstrated to have a different composition than that of non-diabetic mothers, containing elevated levels of glucose and insulin and decreased polyunsaturated fatty acids. Although benefits of breast-feeding for the children of diabetic mothers have been documented, ingestion of diabetic breast milk has also been linked to delayed language development on a dose-dependent basis.

Gestational diabetes affects 3–10% of pregnancies, depending on the population studied.

Classical risk factors for developing gestational diabetes are:

- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

- A previous diagnosis of gestational diabetes or prediabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, or impaired fasting glycaemia

- A family history revealing a first-degree relative with type 2 diabetes

- Maternal age – a woman's risk factor increases as she gets older (especially for women over 35 years of age).

- Ethnicity (those with higher risk factors include African-Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Native Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, and people originating from South Asia)

- Being overweight, obese or severely obese increases the risk by a factor 2.1, 3.6 and 8.6, respectively.

- A previous pregnancy which resulted in a child with a macrosomia (high birth weight: >90th centile or >4000 g (8 lbs 12.8 oz))

- Previous poor obstetric history

- Other genetic risk factors: There are at least 10 genes where certain polymorphism are associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes, most notably TCF7L2.

In addition to this, statistics show a double risk of GDM in smokers. Polycystic ovarian syndrome is also a risk factor, although relevant evidence remains controversial. Some studies have looked at more controversial potential risk factors, such as short stature.

About 40–60% of women with GDM have no demonstrable risk factor; for this reason many advocate to screen all women. Typically, women with GDM exhibit no symptoms (another reason for universal screening), but some women may demonstrate increased thirst, increased urination, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, bladder infection, yeast infections and blurred vision.

Type 2 DM is characterized by insulin resistance, which may be combined with relatively reduced insulin secretion. The defective responsiveness of body tissues to insulin is believed to involve the insulin receptor. However, the specific defects are not known. Diabetes mellitus cases due to a known defect are classified separately. Type 2 DM is the most common type of diabetes mellitus.

In the early stage of type 2, the predominant abnormality is reduced insulin sensitivity. At this stage, high blood sugar can be reversed by a variety of measures and medications that improve insulin sensitivity or reduce the liver's glucose production.

Type 2 DM is primarily due to lifestyle factors and genetics. A number of lifestyle factors are known to be important to the development of type 2 DM, including obesity (defined by a body mass index of greater than 30), lack of physical activity, poor diet, stress, and urbanization. Excess body fat is associated with 30% of cases in those of Chinese and Japanese descent, 60–80% of cases in those of European and African descent, and 100% of Pima Indians and Pacific Islanders. Even those who are not obese often have a high waist–hip ratio.

Dietary factors also influence the risk of developing type 2 DM. Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks in excess is associated with an increased risk. The type of fats in the diet is also important, with saturated fat and trans fats increasing the risk and polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat decreasing the risk. Eating lots of white rice also may increase the risk of diabetes. A lack of physical activity is believed to cause 7% of cases.

It is estimated that between 6-50% of all persons, depending on population, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes might actually have LADA. This number accounts for an estimated 5–10% of the total diabetes population in the U.S. or, as many as 3.5 million persons with LADA. People with LADA typically have a normal BMI or may be underweight due to weight loss prior to diagnosis. Some people with LADA, however, may be overweight to mildly obese.

Contrary to popular belief, some people having LADA do carry a family history of type 2 diabetes.

The risks of maternal diabetes to the developing fetus include miscarriage, growth restriction, growth acceleration, fetal obesity (macrosomia), mild neurological deficits, polyhydramnios and birth defects. A hyperglycemic maternal environment has also been associated with neonates that are at greater risk for development of negative health outcomes such as future obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome.

Mild neurological and cognitive deficits in offspring — including increased symptoms of ADHD, impaired fine and gross motor skills, and impaired explicit memory performance — have been linked to pregestational type 1 diabetes and gestational diabetes. Prenatal iron deficiency has been suggested as a possible mechanism for these problems.

Birth defects are not currently an identified risk for the child of women with gestational diabetes, since those primarily occur in the latter part of pregnancy, where vital organs already have taken their most essential shape.

Having diabetes type I or II prior to pregnancy has a 2- to 3-fold increase in risk of birth defects. The cause is, e.g., oxidative stress, by activating protein kinase C and lead to apoptosis of some cells.

The American College of Endocrinology (ACE) and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) have developed "lifestyle intervention" guidelines for preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes:

- Healthy meals (a diet with no saturated and trans fats, sugars, and refined carbohydrates, as well as limited the intake of sodium and total calories)

- Physical exercise (30–45 minutes of cardio vascular exercise per day, five days a week)

- Reducing weight by as little as 5–10 percent may have a significant impact on overall health

Prediabetes indicates a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 DM.

Many people destined to develop type 2 DM spend many years in a state of prediabetes.

Latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA) is a condition in which type 1 DM develops in adults. Adults with LADA are frequently initially misdiagnosed as having type 2 DM, based on age rather than cause.

Some cases of diabetes are caused by the body's tissue receptors not responding to insulin (even when insulin levels are normal, which is what separates it from type 2 diabetes); this form is very uncommon. Genetic mutations (autosomal or mitochondrial) can lead to defects in beta cell function. Abnormal insulin action may also have been genetically determined in some cases. Any disease that causes extensive damage to the pancreas may lead to diabetes (for example, chronic pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis). Diseases associated with excessive secretion of insulin-antagonistic hormones can cause diabetes (which is typically resolved once the hormone excess is removed). Many drugs impair insulin secretion and some toxins damage pancreatic beta cells. The ICD-10 (1992) diagnostic entity, "malnutrition-related diabetes mellitus" (MRDM or MMDM, ICD-10 code E12), was deprecated by the World Health Organization when the current taxonomy was introduced in 1999.

Other forms of diabetes mellitus include congenital diabetes, which is due to genetic defects of insulin secretion, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes induced by high doses of glucocorticoids, and several forms of monogenic diabetes.

"Type 3 diabetes" has been suggested as a term for Alzheimer's disease as the underlying processes may involve insulin resistance by the brain.

The following is a comprehensive list of other causes of diabetes:

- Genetic defects of β-cell function

- Maturity onset diabetes of the young

- Mitochondrial DNA mutations

- Genetic defects in insulin processing or insulin action

- Defects in proinsulin conversion

- Insulin gene mutations

- Insulin receptor mutations

- Exocrine pancreatic defects

- Chronic pancreatitis

- Pancreatectomy

- Pancreatic neoplasia

- Cystic fibrosis

- Hemochromatosis

- Fibrocalculous pancreatopathy

- Endocrinopathies

- Growth hormone excess (acromegaly)

- Cushing syndrome

- Hyperthyroidism

- Pheochromocytoma

- Glucagonoma

- Infections

- Cytomegalovirus infection

- Coxsackievirus B

- Drugs

- Glucocorticoids

- Thyroid hormone

- β-adrenergic agonists

- Statins

Causes of NDM

PNDM and TNDM are inherited genetically from the mother or father of the infant. Different genetic inheritance or genetic mutations can lead to different diagnosis of NDM (Permanent or Transient Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus). The following are different types of inheritance or mutations:

- "Autosomal Dominant": Every cell has two copies of each gene-one gen coming from the mother and one coming from the father. Autosomal dominant inheritance pattern is defined as a mutation that occurs in only one copy of the gene. A parent with the mutation can pass on a copy of the gene and a parent with the mutation can pass on a copy of their working gene (or a copy of their damaged gene). In an autosomal dominant inheritance, a child who has a parent with the mutation has a 50% possibility of inheriting the mutation.

- "Autosomal Recessive" -Autosomal recessive-Generally, every cells have two copies of each gene-one gene is inherited from the mother and one gene is inherited from the father. Autosomal recessive inheritance pattern is defined as a mutation present in both copies if the gene in order for a person to be affected and each parent much pass on a mutated gene for a child to be affected. However, if an infant or child has only one copy, he or she are a carrier of the mutation. If moth parents are carriers of the recessive gene mutation, each child have a 25% chance of inheriting the gene.

- "Spontaneous": A new mutation or change occurs within the gene.

- "X-linked:" When a trait or disease happens in a person who has inherited a mutated gene on the X chromosome (one of the sex chromosome).

Prevention: There are no current prevention methods, because TNDM or PNDM are inherited genetically.

The outcome for infants or adults with NDM have different outcomes among carriers of the disease. Among affected babies, some have PNDM while others have relapse of their diabetes and other patients may experience permanent remission. Diabetes may reoccur in the patient's childhood or adulthood. It was estimated that neonatal diabetes mellitus will be TNDM in about 50% are half of the cases.

During the Neonatal stage, the prognosis is determined by the severity of the disease (dehydration and acidosis), also based on how rapidly the disase is diagnosed and treated. Associated abnormalities (e.g. irregular growth in the womb or enlarged tongue) can effect a person's prognosis. The long-term prognosis depends on the person's metabolic control, which effects the presence and complications of diabetes complications. The prognosis can be confirmed with genetic analysis to find the genetic cause of the disease. WIth proper management, the prognosis for overall health and normal brain development is normally good. It is highly advised people living with NDM seek prognosis from their health care provider.

A 1988 study over 41 months found that improved glucose control led to initial "worsening of complications" but was not followed by the expected improvement in complications. In 1993 it was discovered that the serum of diabetics with neuropathy is toxic to nerves, even if its blood sugar content is normal.

Research from 1995 also challenged the theory of hyperglycemia as the cause of diabetic complications. The fact that 40% of diabetics who carefully controlled their blood sugar nevertheless developed neuropathy made clear other factors were involved.

In a 2013 meta-analysis of 6 randomized controlled trials involving 27,654 patients, tight blood glucose control reduced the risk for some macrovascular and microvascular events but without effect on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality.

The progression to type 2 diabetes mellitus is not inevitable for those with prediabetes. The progression into diabetes mellitus from prediabetes is approximately 25% over three to five years.

According to data from Saxony, Germany, MODY was responsible for 2.4% of diabetes incidence in children younger than 15 years.

Type 2 diabetes in youth brings a much higher prevalence of complications like diabetic kidney disease, retinopathy and peripheral neuropathy than type 1 diabetes, though no significant difference in the odds of arterial stiffness and hypertension.

In some forms of MODY, standard treatment is appropriate, though exceptions occur:

- In MODY2, oral agents are relatively ineffective and insulin is unnecessary.

- In MODY1 and MODY3, insulin may be more effective than drugs to increase insulin sensitivity.

- Sulfonylureas are effective in the K channel forms of neonatal-onset diabetes. The mouse model of MODY diabetes suggested that the reduced clearance of sulfonylureas stands behind their therapeutic success in human MODY patients, but Urbanova et al. found that human MODY patients respond differently to the mouse model and that there was no consistent decrease in the clearance of sulfonylureas in randomly selected HNF1A-MODY and HNF4A-MODY patients.

At present, there is no international standard classification of diabetes in dogs. Commonly used terms are:

- Insulin deficiency diabetes or primary diabetes, which refers to the destruction of the beta cells of the pancreas and their inability to produce insulin.

- Insulin resistance diabetes or secondary diabetes, which describes the resistance to insulin caused by other medical conditions or by hormonal drugs.

While the occurrence of beta cell destruction is known, all of the processes behind it are not. Canine primary diabetes mirrors Type 1 human diabetes in the inability to produce insulin and the need for exogenous replacement of it, but the target of canine diabetes autoantibodies has yet to be identified. Breed and treatment studies have been able to provide some evidence of a genetic connection. Studies have furnished evidence that canine diabetes has a seasonal connection not unlike its human Type 1 diabetes counterpart, and a "lifestyle" factor, with pancreatitis being a clear cause. This evidence suggests that the disease in dogs has some environmental and dietary factors involved.

Secondary diabetes may be caused by use of steroid medications, the hormones of estrus, acromegaly, (spaying can resolve the diabetes), pregnancy, or other medical conditions such as Cushing's disease. In such cases, it may be possible to treat the primary medical problem and revert the animal to non-diabetic status. Returning to non-diabetic status depends on the amount of damage the pancreatic insulin-producing beta cells have sustained.

It happens rarely, but it is possible for a pancreatitis attack to activate the endocrine portion of the organ back into being capable of producing insulin once again in dogs. It is possible for acute pancreatitis to cause a temporary, or transient diabetes, most likely due to damage to the endocrine portion's beta cells. Insulin resistance that can follow a pancreatitis attack may last for some time thereafter. Pancreatitis can damage the endocrine pancreas to the point where the diabetes is permanent.

In February 2013 scientists successfully cured type 1 diabetes in dogs using a pioneering gene therapy.

Diabetes mellitus is rare in cats younger than five years old. Burmese cats in Europe and Australia have increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus; American Burmese cats do not have this increased risk due to genetic diffences between American Burmese and Burmese in other parts of the world.

Sedentary lifestyle increases the likelihood of development of insulin resistance. It has been estimated that each 500 kcal/week increment in physical activity related energy expenditure, reduces the lifetime risk of type 2 diabetes by 9%. A different study found that vigorous exercise at least once a week reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes in women by 33%.

Remission occurs when a cat no longer requires treatment for diabetes mellitus, and has normal blood glucose concentrations for at least a month.

Approximately one in four cats with type 2-like diabetes achieve remission. Some studies have reported a higher remission rate than this, which may in part be due to intensive monitoring that is impractical outside of a research environment. Research studies have implicated a variety of factors in successful remission; in general, the following factors increase the likelihood of remission:

- Diabetes was diagnosed a few months ago

- The cat has no other serious disease

- Treatment includes insulin glargine administered twice daily

- The cat is monitored frequently during the first few months of treatment

- The cat eats a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein.

Cats may present with type-2 (insulin-resistant) diabetes, at least at first, but hyperglycemia and amyloidosis, left untreated, will damage the pancreas over time and progress to insulin-dependent diabetes.

Glipizide and similar oral diabetic medicines designed for type-2 diabetic humans have been shown to increase amyloid production and amyloidosis, and therefore may reduce likelihood of remission.

Approximately one third of cats which achieve remission will later relapse.

There are no known ways of preventing LADA type 1 diabetes, though some researchers believe it could be stopped at a very early stage if a diagnosis is made prior to the body's destruction of its beta cells.