Diabetes run in families

In general, it's thought that T2 is largely genetic [I'm 4th in a direct line!], but T1 is just a statistical accident. However it is clear from lots of reading, that many families have T1s in several generations.
Hana

There are quite a few families where all types of diabetes seem to be present and no real answer as to why. I have one cousin diagnosed late in life with T1 (1.5) just as I was. Otherwise I know of no other diabetes in the family.
You might like to read this It explains a bit about the genetics of T1, 2 and MODY but also the limitations of our knowledge
http://www.genetics.edu.au/Information/ ... sitionFS57

It is clear that type 1 and type 2 diabetes ‘cluster’ in the
same families. These findings support a possible common genetic
interaction between type 1 and type 2 diabetes involving the HLA
genes, although to date no other clear association with the HLA
complex genes has been shown

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I am the only one in my close and extended family to have diabetes, either type.

I have a father, brother and me in my family. My paternal grandmother also had it.All T2's

However, I am a red-head and I notice a number of red-heads on this forum. More than the statistical representation would suggest. As part of the genetics, does anyone know if certain physical groups have more T2's and T1's in them? Particularly red-heads, as all the family members who have it in my family are the ginger lot.

Apart from the higher incidence in younger Indian and West African groups?

More people with blue eyes are supposed to get 'classic' T1.
I have blue eyes but my version of T1 is not clasic.
Apart from Sardinia the places where T1 is most prevalent tend to be in Northern Europe and the genes may have something to to with 'Viking' ancestry (it's all the fault of those Swedes again :lol
For Type 2 there seems to be a variety of ethnicities. In the US the greatest prevalence is in African Americans (not many redheads) and in Hispanics. There are huge numbers in the middle East and in Asia (again not many red heads)
But is T2 one condition with one particular genetic influence.... personally I don't think so.

nesquick said:

Hello everyone,

I am a type1 diabetic & I was diagnosed when I was just 2 yrs old I'm now 40.i am on insulin 4 times a day-novo rapid 3 times a day & lantus glargine at night time.i want to know if members on the forum have family members who are also diabetic? In my family I was the very first to be diagnosed with diabetes then it was my mothers sister who has t1,my fathers parents t2,my father t2,my fathers brother t2,my sister t2,my brother & sister in law t2 & finally my niece t1.all of my family members are on insulin apart from my grandparents & father who have passed away.
Apparently diabetes tend to be a hereditary disease,what do the forum members think of this? :?:
I would love to hear from anyone who have family members who are diabetic,I am new to the forum & I hope to make many friends in the coming weeks.
I hope that everybody is enjoying the hot weather & sun bathing (don't forget your sun tan lotion) hat & shades 8) enjoy your weekend & I hope to hear from you all soon.till then take care.
Bye for now. :wave:

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A big hello and welcome. I'm new too. I 've had type 1 for 23 years. My uncle had type 1( my mum's brother) and as far as I know my Nan ( my mum's mother, but she died when my mum was only six) also my daughter's niece, who was diagnosed at the age of 2 yrs and 9 months a year ago on June 1st 2011, so, so sad So, yep, type 1 definately runs in our family. I said a few years ago that I knew a close family member would get diabetes, just didn't think it would be our little Grace. So yes, I am a believer that it does run in families, Type 1 and 2.

No one at all when I was diagnosed although my Aunt developed type 2 around 10 years ago.

noblehead said:

No one at all when I was diagnosed although my Aunt developed type 2 around 10 years ago.

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Hi, well I suppose any medical condition has to start from someone :? . As for my family tree, I would like to find out if there were any one else on my mum's side who had the big D.

Robinredbreast said:

noblehead said:

No one at all when I was diagnosed although my Aunt developed type 2 around 10 years ago.

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Hi, well I suppose any medical condition has to start from someone :? . As for my family tree, I would like to find out if there were any one else on my mum's side who had the big D.

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Yes and it would have to be me!

Really it's hard to know if diabetes has/hasn't been in the family before without tracing your family back a long way.

For the older ones, like my fathers parents, we had to go on anecdotal evidence such as, my paternal grandmother lost her leg in her 40's due to illness (and possibly gangrene) not in an accident. And another relative was known to have lost his sight in his 60's. That sort of sleuthing.

Well I'm pretty much the odd bod of a large family, I was diagnosed 23 years ago the first and still the only one of either T1 or T2, my twin hasn't developed it (we are the youngest of the family) going backwards our family has been traced back to 1027, and no indicators that could suggest diabetes... Going forward well I am now a great-great aunty and no signs of diabetes...

Now my husband is a different matter, as he was diagnosed T1 33 years ago, at the time he was thought the only one as no-one could remembered another diabetic.. It was thought like me he was a fluke, as his son hasn't got diabetes, but 5 years ago his uncle was diagnosed as T2 and a couple years ago his uncle son was diagnosed as T1 in his 30's!

When I was first diagnosed they used to say with T1 that it jumped a generation so it was likely to appear in my grand-children rather than my children... Yet to find that out

Hi, I'm Asian and diagnosed with T1.5 at 34.

My parents have T2 which they developed in their 50s. I have a T2 cousin (mum's side), he's the same age as me and was diagnosed a few years ago.

My daughter is the only person in our family with diabetes, no one else to our knowledge going back as far as our great-grandparents have had either (or any) type of diabetes.

My mum had type 2 on insulin, my dad had type 2 pills and diet and my brother currently has type 2 on pills. My grandmother does not have diabetes.

I don't know of anyone in my family who had diabetes.

My grandfather was type 1 but no one else in my family are known to be diabetic.

Hi.
My own mother and her mother my grandma were both 'borderline diabetics'
With a strict diet and all homemade ccoking they both sucessfully prevented it developing into diabetes .
Myself after a pneumonia and septis infection in 2008 plus lost 2 stone in weight due to the illnesses so I thought?
Was called into my GP's, who sat me down n firmy told me that I was fully diabetic !
As I was insisting it wasnt and couldnt be so.
Took me over 6months to get my head around this ...
Am having a c peptide test done on the 18th june to verify my Type .
Anna.

Ooh, you need to make sure you never leave home without your insulin. Maybe you can carry a spare pen in your bag. Whenever I go out with my daughter I always take more than I think she'll need, always thinking what happens if there's a problem and we can't get home at the time I planned - e.g. bad traffic or weather or some other sort of emergency. I take more snacks, drinks and insulin than I think she'll need. If we're visiting friends or family a distance away for the day I'll take enough supplies to last me a couple of days, just incase the car breaks down and we end up having to stay overnight (this has happened to us once).

Even although the cake was sugar free I'll reckon there were carbs in there from flour and other ingredients. Those carbs would have raised your blood glucose levels.

You did the right thing checking your blood glucose immediately on coming home and then giving a correction dose of insulin to bring the readings down. It appears that you may have over-corrected though. Do you know what your insulin sensitivity factor (ISF) is? That means how many mmol/l 1 unit of fast acting insulin will reduce your blood glucose by. If for example your ISF is 1:5 then 4 units of rapid acting insulin would have reduced your blood glucose from 27.4 mmol/l to approximately 7.4 mmol/l. The other thing I always do if there is a correction of rapid acting insulin given is that I check blood glucose again 2.5 - 3 hours later, even if it means setting an alarm for the middle of the night. This gives me peace of mind that I can check I haven't over-corrected the high reading and if I have then I can often stop a hypo before it gets too low. The other thing to remember if you think you have a high reading is to drink plenty of water.