I'm type I diabetic my fiance is Pregnant

[crucialjames]

Whats the probability my child will have diabetes? And any recommendations for my fiance to maybe help. She is perfect weight and very athletic. My diabetes is controlled to a degree and my A1C wasn't too good last time I was at the doctors. I started my workout routine again, after i lost 10LB of muscle.

I'm still CUT I think my insulin helps me build muscle ... very strange but thats the only benefit I got out of having diabetes.

[JasonJayhawk]

Insulin does not help to build muscle, but it probably makes your blood glucose in a range that makes you feel good enough to exercise. Having high blood glucose makes it difficult to exercise because glucose can't get into the muscle cells to provide you any power to move.

I have read that it's about a one in seventeen chance of your child having type 1 diabetes if the male has it. The weight of the mother (or father) in the case of Type 1 does not matter because we aren't talking about Type 2 diabetes.

However, that 1-in-17 is a shot in the dark.

You might consider enrolling in a TrialNet project to look into the study of using DHA to push back or halt the progression of potential Type 1. DHA (an omega-3) should be a part of your fiance's diet -- use a DHA that is safe for pregnant women (such as Expectra LIPIL). Also use a baby formula with DHA in it and if she's BF, make sure she continues to have a high intake of omega-3 oils.

Omega-3's have been shown to reduce Type 1 from occurring in 57% of kids that have antibodies that are associated with the development of Type 1. You'll of course want to do more research on this by checking out the journals.

[crucialjames]

I'm not going to recomemd this article nor do I condone it but gives a lot of information.

The Glycemic Index, Insulin and Bodybuilding (http://www.gain-weight-muscle-fast.com/glycemic-index.html)

and yes I did find that insulin has helped me cut my muscles. I also lift heavy and I dont know why I never have to do any cut routines. She has expecta Lipil but is not taking it, I will show her this thread and see what she says.

I get so upset about this and I dont want it for my child.. I think he/she will be ok.

[JasonJayhawk]

Cells can't grow without glocuse, so of course insulin "helps", but the muscle growth is due to your exercise. Insulin is an anabolic hormone (anabolic meaning "growth").

If you had normal insulin production, you'd be making the same muscles, so don't give all the credit to your insulin. :-)

Expecta Lipil is DHA derived from plants (fish oil omega-3 may have mercury in it).

In the old days, they use to tell women to "avoid fish" -- but now they suggest fish once a week for pregnant women, so long as it isn't "bottom feeder" fish (something like salmon and talipia would be good, generally).

[crucialjames]

I have to blame the muscle growth on something lol becasue i hardly EVER work out. It's the only excuse I have.

I know her doctor gave her about 30 boxes of expecta its almost all fish. I'll have her speak with her doctor about this this is honestly my only major concern with her pregnancy.

[Gordonm]

I'm a type 1 since I was 11 now 44 and my kids are 14 and 16. Neither one has any form of diabetes but I know they have a better chance at getting it. They eat right and are athletic and are quite thin. So far so good.

[Eddy]

I have to blame the muscle growth on something lol becasue i hardly EVER work out. It's the only excuse I have.


I think that both you and Jason are right. :) Had you normal insulin production, you'd build up like you have. With insufficient insulin, your body is more likely to catabolize muscle (as you experienced) when it needs fuel.

Immediately post-DX, I had crazy fish cravings. I ate 0.5 to 1.0 pounds per day... along with soy milk, goat milk, and other lesser sources of protein.

Three weeks later, I'd gone from 155 pounds to 168 pounds. I've since leveled off around 175.

When the weather turns warmer, and I'm back in more-familiar territory, I hope to experiment with exercise. :)

[amyjo29]

Well, the only thing I can tell you is teach your child good eating habits and get him/her moving by plenty of exercise. What happens after that will happen. If your "marked" for this disease there is really nothing you can do but help post pone what's to come. It was a shock to me that I get this disease. My mom's side has 3 people and my dad's side has no one! I'm the 4th person to get this disease. I have always watched what I ate and exercised but still got the disease. I'm almost 30 and was diagnosed during my pregnancy at 29. My sugars never returned to normal after giving birth. I worry about my daughter getting this disease as my husbands grandmother had this disease.

[parrotletzoo]

Blatently ripped off from the American Diabetes Association's web site. ty

American Diabetes Association (http://www.diabetes.org/utils/printthispage.jsp?PageID=ALLABOUTDIABETES_233167)

The Genetics of Diabetes

You've probably wondered how you got diabetes. You may worry that your children will get it too.

Unlike some traits, diabetes does not seem to be inherited in a simple pattern. Yet clearly, some people are born more likely to get diabetes than others.
What leads to diabetes?


Type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different causes. Yet two factors are important in both. First, you must inherit a predisposition to the disease. Second, something in your environment must trigger diabetes.

Genes alone are not enough. One proof of this is identical twins. Identical twins have identical genes. Yet when one twin has type 1 diabetes, the other gets the disease at most only half the time. When one twin has type 2 diabetes, the other's risk is at most 3 in 4.
Type 1 diabetes


In most cases of type 1 diabetes, people need to inherit risk factors from both parents. We think these factors must be more common in whites because whites have the highest rate of type 1 diabetes. Because most people who are at risk do not get diabetes, researchers want to find out what the environmental triggers are.

One trigger might be related to cold weather. Type 1 diabetes develops more often in winter than summer and is more common in places with cold climates. Another trigger might be viruses. Perhaps a virus that has only mild effects on most people triggers type 1 diabetes in others.

Early diet may also play a role. Type 1 diabetes is less common in people who were breastfed and in those who first ate solid foods at later ages.

In many people, the development of type 1 diabetes seems to take many years. In experiments that followed relatives of people with type 1 diabetes, researchers found that most of those who later got diabetes had certain autoantibodies in their blood for years before.

(Antibodies are proteins that destroy bacteria or viruses. Autoantibodies are antibodies 'gone bad,' which attack the body's own tissues.)
Type 2 diabetes


Type 2 diabetes has a stronger genetic basis than type 1, yet it also depends more on environmental factors. Sound confusing? What happens is that a family history of type 2 diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for getting the disease but it only seems to matter in people living a Western lifestyle.

Americans and Europeans eat too much fat and too little carbohydrate and fiber, and they get too little exercise. Type 2 diabetes is common in people with these habits. The ethnic groups in the United States with the highest risk are African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Pima Indians.

In contrast, people who live in areas that have not become Westernized tend not to get type 2 diabetes, no matter how high their genetic risk.

Obesity is a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Obesity is most risky for young people and for people who have been obese for a long time.

Gestational diabetes is more of a puzzle. Women who get diabetes while they are pregnant are more likely to have a family history of diabetes, especially on their mothers' side. But as in other forms of diabetes, nongenetic factors play a role. Older mothers and overweight women are more likely to get gestational diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes: your child's risk


In general, if you are a man with type 1 diabetes, the odds of your child getting diabetes are 1 in 17. If you are a woman with type 1 diabetes and your child was born before you were 25, your child's risk is 1 in 25; if your child was born after you turned 25, your child's risk is 1 in 100.

Your child's risk is doubled if you developed diabetes before age 11. If both you and your partner have type 1 diabetes, the risk is between 1 in 10 and 1 in 4.

There is an exception to these numbers. About 1 in every 7 people with type 1 diabetes has a condition called type 2 polyglandular autoimmune syndrome.

In addition to having diabetes, these people also have thyroid disease and a poorly working adrenal gland. Some also have other immune system disorders. If you have this syndrome, your child's risk of getting the syndrome including type 1 diabetes is 1 in 2.

Researchers are learning how to predict a person's odds of getting diabetes. For example, most whites with type 1 diabetes have genes called HLA-DR3 or HLA-DR4.

If you and your child are white and share these genes, your child's risk is higher. (Suspect genes in other ethnic groups are less well studied. The HLA-DR7 gene may put African Americans at risk, and the HLA-DR9 gene may put Japanese at risk.)

Other tests can also make your child's risk clearer. A special test that tells how the body responds to glucose can tell which school-aged children are most at risk.

Another more expensive test can be done for children who have siblings with type 1 diabetes. This test measures antibodies to insulin, to islet cells in the pancreas, or to an enzyme called glutamic acid decarboxylase. High levels can indicate that a child has a higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes: your child's risk


Type 2 diabetes runs in families. In part, this tendency is due to children learning bad habits eating a poor diet, not exercising--from their parents. But there is also a genetic basis.

In general, if you have type 2 diabetes, the risk of your child getting diabetes is 1 in 7 if you were diagnosed before age 50 and 1 in 13 if you were diagnosed after age 50.

Some scientists believe that a child's risk is greater when the parent with type 2 diabetes is the mother. If both you and your partner have type 2 diabetes, your child's risk is about 1 in 2.

People with certain rare types of type 2 diabetes have different risks. If you have the rare form called maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), your child has almost a 1-in-2 chance of getting it, too.
More Information on Genetics

If you would like to learn more about the genetics of all forms of diabetes, the National Institutes of Health has recently published The Genetic Landscape of Diabetes. This free online book provides an overview of the current knowledge about the genetics of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, as well other less common forms of diabetes. The book is written for health professionals and for people with diabetes interested in learning more about the disease.

[grace girl]

When I was dx'ed with type 1 I already had three children and their chances of getting it were a major concern. My doctor told me that they have a less than 20% chance of getting it.
I have read that the chances are slightly higher if the father is type 1.
However, if I had been dx'ed before having children, I don't think I would have done anything differently. I don't want anyone to have type 1, but there are worse things a person can live with.