Re: Wife of type 1 diabetic, worry about inheritance

Hi Cindy

This is from someone who was in your shoes at one point. I have a daughter who is now 22 and does not have Diabetes.  I had a son who got it when he was 5.

There's no way to know for sure if your child will or won't.  My hope is that you won't worry about it.  As my wife says about things, either it will happen or it won't.  You do know the symptoms, so just look out for them. If you notice your child losing weight and always being hungry and thirsty and making frequent bathroom runs, get out the old man's tester and test them.  If they're high take them in to the doc.  Even if they do get it it won't be ideal, but you'll be able to handle it.  And as many on here will attest, it is possible to live a long, healthy, happy life, in spite of Diabetes.

Deleted by me (:

The only compelling information I've seen about diabetes is statistical, that people in far northern countries like Norway, England, and Canada develop type 1 at a higher rate.  But it's difficult to know if there's a hereditary link or if it's from Vitamin D or something else related to the lack of daylight in those areas.

I think the vaccine link to type 1 is bogus.  If that were true there would have been a huge surge in type 1 in the last 50 years since vaccines have become routine, which hasn't happened.

I'm unsure about the childhood illness link.  It seems pretty anecdotal, since kids are often sick.  Of course it's possible that an illness triggers the pre-existing condition.  Good thing there are people smarter than me working to figure this stuff out.

Sarah

The newest research, coming from JDRF's research people, that I've heard is that they think a virus is NOT a cause.

I don't think anyone believes viruses are a "cause", but according to the link you posted, it can be a trigger to the onset;

 "Another trigger might be viruses. Perhaps a virus that has only mild effects on most people triggers type 1 diabetes in others. .....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.)"

This is pretty much the definition of auto-immune diseas.

to Richard's comment:

Richard Vaughn

I have no relatives with T1 and there is no history at all. I have two sons in their 40s and two grandchildren, and none of them have diabetes. My diabetes was caused by my mumps and chickenpox when I was 5, in early 1945. That undoubtedly caused damage to my pancreas since my symptoms started while I was recovering from those diseases. I think that my getting T1 because of childhood  diseases made it very unlikely that my children would "inherit" T1. If your husband also had some disease that caused his T1, then I believe there is almost no chance they can inherit his T1. That assumes there are no other relatives with T1.

When I was about 4 I had VERY bad asthma -- I was given plenty of Prednisone, Adrenaline, and other stuff to help stop the wheezing ... 6 years later T1 ... REALLY??  While my hypothesis is often brushed aside by my endos', I really believe there is SOME correlation ...

My three sons do not have T1 -

No one in my family before me had T1 -

But ok -- I do and I [try] make sure I do the best I can everyday!

Scott