They say the risk is higher if a parent has diabetes.
I was told that the risk is about 1 in 30 with a T1 mum. It's actually slightly worse with a T1 dad. (And worse again if you have multiple T1 relatives, though the genetic link is far far weaker than that for T2s). But there have been identical twins where only 1 has T1, so it's clear that there's a lot more than genetics going on.
There's also a genetic test you can do to see if you have
one of the markers that may make you susceptible to T1. (I know this because my daughter had the test done because they were looking for relatives of T1s for a study to see if a nasal treatment would make people less likely to get T1. She didn't have the marker, so wasn't part of the study, and I don't know what its results were. (It was about eight years ago.)
My T1 mother had no diabetics in her family and was therefore nearly in DKA when diagnosed. As a result I only had to once wake in the night asking for water to get a urine test (this is pre glucometer) and a trip to the doctor to be diagnosed. At the time naive 8 year old me wanted the ensuing blood tests to come up positive, because I was told that if they didn't I would have to have more blood tests to make sure.
. Now obviously she was devastated (and felt guilty though it really wasn't her fault) about my diagnosis, and remember in those days diabetes was still regarded as a serious life shortener (though she made it to 78 in the end and would have lived longer if it weren't for the 50 years of nicotine addiction.) But as far as I was concerned, it made my T1 childhood carefree, as I was in a house where diabetes was normal and my mother could help me with all my T1 stuff. (She even splashed out and bought disposable syringes for me, she had been using the reusable NHS ones
).
As a T1 mother, I've always been aware that there is a (small but higher than for other kids) chance that my kids would get T1. I've managed to restrain myself from doing blood tests when they got sick or thirsty, but I used urine testing strips to appease my paranoia. If they got T1 (not likely now as they are in their twenties) I would have picked it up very quickly because you excrete sugar as soon as your blood sugar goes over 10.
So yes,
@Moosh97 , your son could get T1, as could any child with non diabetic parents. But it's not very likely, and if he does get it you will be able to give him the best T1 care. There's no point in worrying about it. (Though I won't blame you for worrying if he gets unusually thirsty, as that's what mothers do.
)
