Can type 1 transfer to my children? and I'm I T1? please

[knight191]

now I'm 24 yrs diagnosed when 22 yrs.
I'm in developing country so diagnosing, health care and knowledge are not good. At first, I take medicine for 1.5 yrs but nothing better so last month, I've taken short and intermediate insulin but I got both hypo and hyper. This week, I started taking rapid and long acting insulin.

How can I know what type ? antibody test?----------------------

I have anotyher question that worry me and my girlfriend. Can Type1 diabetes tranfer to my children because I have a plan to marry within 2-3 yrs.

Do you have any statistic or any information about diabetes transfering to children?
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Thank you in advance and sorry for my English. :)

[DarthDiabetes]

There is some generic info posted on the ADA's website that goes something like: If mother has type 1 there is a 3% risk, if father there is a 6% risk, and if both risk is 10%.

Unfortunatley I think it is much more complicated than that, I have read about familys with 4 members and familys that have just one so there must be something more too it.

[knight191]

the research said just 6% ?!?

However, there is no diabetes type1 in my previous 3 generations. :confused:

[Gordonm]

Just my experience. I have had type 1 since I was 11 years old now 45. I have 2 kids age 17 and 15. So far no signs of any diabetes. I had no relatives in past generations tha thad diabetes either. There is always a chance but it is low.

[nyahaha]

god bless u!! im 15 and ive also had type 1 diabetes since i was 11, ur my hero!

[Lizzie G]

i cant remember where it was i saw it but i found a study somewhere on the net which gave statistics as to the likelihood of your offsrping developing diabetes. from what i remember they were slightly higher than those quoted above (im not saying that these are right or wrong just that there is lots of conflicting information out there!) but one thing that is generally accepted is that type 1 is more likely to pass on from the father, and of course if both parents have type 1 then chances are greater. The other thing i read is that the later you develop type 1 the less likely your children will get it too.

[DarthDiabetes]

The other thing i read is that the later you develop type 1 the less likely your children will get it too.

Do you remember where you read this? Just trying to put my mind at ease. :)

[NoraWI]

Very complicated issue! It was very infrequently that diabetes was diagnosed in past generations. So whether others in the family had it may not be known.

In my case, my maternal grandmother was diagnosed T1 at the age of 62 and was on insulin until she died of a heart attack at 72. Obviously, she was not well controlled with no testing available except for keto-stix.

My mother never had a diagnosis at all, developed numerous complications and even had a leg amputated. But she lived to 91.

My slow progressing T1 (LADA) did not manifest itself until the same age as my grandmother -- at 62. All my children are aware that they are at risk. The oldest is 47; the youngest 42. To date none has diabetes nor do any of their children. I hope to live as long as Mother but without all the complications!

I suspect that some of this is genetic predisposition and some is *communality of exposure* (similar family exposure to infections that may damage the pancreas in various ways).

[LantusFiend]

Since you're from Thailand and you're worrying about transferring diabetes, I want to make sure that it's clear that diabetes is not infectious. Your baby can't catch diabetes from you, and it's safe to breastfeed. Your baby will not be born with diabetes- the question is whether or not it will grow up and develop diabetes as a child or young adult.
Because your genes code for a higher risk of diabetes, your child is at a slightly higher risk of diabetes. But because you're the mother and the genes and male imprinted, and because you belong to a low risk genetic group, and because you were diagnosed relatively late for a type 1, I would place your child's chance of developing diabetes at about 1%. Not high at all.

[Mrs.Type 1]

My husbands grandmother was diagnosed late in life and his father has always controled his with diet so not full blown diabetic but my husband was diagnosed at 15 and from the time our son was about 6 months old or so we have been checking his blood sugar and have had alot of problems with it. At 8 months or so he had his first really high blood sugar of 280 or so. So we rushed him to the ER and they said that he was too young to have diabetes and that they wouldn't check until he turned 2. Since then we have had many other visits to the ER all with BS of over 200 which is very abnormal in a baby. I dont mean to scare anyone with this...but i do think it is importnant to be informed and not to be scared to check your childs BS. I also think its important to keep in mind that they are never too young to have diabetes.

[owlyn]

A "C-Peptide" test will determine if you are T1 or T2.

[parrotletzoo]

from the ADA website:


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.