Family history and Type 1

General
1

Hi!  I was reading through the forums and in Type 1 diabetes:Statistics Kristy had said that she had been told that 90% of Type 1 diabetics have no family history.  That got me thinking! 

I am frequently asked if anyone in my family has diabetes, if that is how I got it.  Most people are reffering to Type 2 and how it is hereditary. How  un-educated population is about Type 1 another post for another day!

Anyway, do you have any one else in your family with Type 1?  If you are Type 1 do any of your children also have Type 1?  Are you a parent of a child with T1 but no one else has it?  I am just curious!

As for me, my  Mom's, cousins' son is a Type 1, but there is almost NO blood relation between us so I'm pretty sure that means nothing.   My sister does have psoriasis, which is also an auto-immune disorder, so maybe we are pre-disposed to auto-immune diseases.  who knows! 

2

hi Jenny,  this is a tough one because while T1 doesn't have to run in families - if you are 1 degree away (brother sister son or daughter) from some with T1 your chances of getting it goes up TEN times.... kinda bad news for my 3 brothers and my sister.

so it's both then really, it has a family component and a more "random" (or not easily explained) component.

No one in my family history, tracing my parent's families back to mid 1800's, had T1.

3

No Type 1 in our family at all, on either side.  No Type 2 either.  Kathy is the sole Diabetic in the family.

4

My cousin and I both have Type 1.  We're 2 years apart and were both diagnosed when we were 10 year old.  Kind of random and coincidental that it worked out that way.  I don't know of any other diabetics (either type) in my immediate or extended family.

5

I was dx after a FLU virus when I was 7, there was no diabetes in my immediate family at the time. My 12 year old daughter was dx at 20 months and also has JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis - autoimmune).  My 6 year old has the high risk markers (DR3 /4) but so far no antibodies.

Something is going on L

 

6

While there isn't necessarily a hereditary link from a IDDM point of view, the clinic we attend is doing research around the fact that autoimmune diseases are indeed linked.

There is no T1 anywhere in our family (except married in) however I have vitiligo and my mother has chrohns.  The suspicion is that there is a trait that can be passed down that causes havoc in the immune system and manifests itself in different fashion.  Overall, nearly 4/5 people with autoimmune diseases are women but I have yet to learn why.

7

My aunt has Celiac's disease (which is also autoimmune), but I don't know of any blood relatives of mine with Type 1.

Hope this is good news for my future chilluns'.

8

Well, I have Type 1, and my sister had myasthenia gravis. I also have a first cousin who has some kind of thyroid disease, and her sister's son has severe food allergies. All of these are considered to be autoimmune diseases/issues, from what I understand.

9

Lots of autoimmune diseases in the family but, other than my daughter, only my cousin's daughter has Type I. Has anyone enrolled in TrialNet?

10

Cool topic this one. Apparently my grandfather's sister had type 1 diabetes, and that's why I have it now.

11

Rmeadowsaprn,  Since I have T1D and our first born daughter Emily (dx at 20 mos) has it, we enrolled my now 6yr old, Claire, in TrialNet through the Barbara Davis Ctr Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes.   At birth they took cord blood which is now banked to be used if antibodies are seen.  Claire was born with the DR 3 and 4 markers so is considered “high risk but so far no antibodies have shown.

My wife was instructed to nurse for as long as possible and not to introduce cows milk….she made it 14 mos. before saying enough is enough. We were also instructed to give high doses of Omega 3 so Claire was given fish oil daily.  See this article regarding the Omega 3 research: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/298/12/1420  and this one http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT00333554

My 12 year old daughter Emily also has JRA so she also takes fish oil daily as it has been believed  to naturally decrease swelling http://www.oilofpisces.com/rheumatoidarthritis.html

Is a high Omega 3, non dairy diet the answer……who knows but the fact that Emily was 20 mos when dx and Claire is now 6 and has not been dx does give some hope…..or it could of course be good luck J

 

12

Thanks for the research cites. Great data. Insulin resistance and the effect of Omega3 is well researched on Type II but not Type I. Good population data too/ generalizability.

13

One of my German great, great aunts had type one.  She died at age 11 in the late 1890's...before insulin.  It is so hard not knowing why sometimes.

14

Hey Craig.  I'm not sure if you are currently, but you may want to supplement vitamin D as well.  You could do cod liver oil, if that's easier for the kids.

I wrote a report on vitamin D and it's link to type 1 diabetes.  There is some pretty hard evidence stating that it can often play a pretty major role.

I'll include my concluding statements and provide the references I included in my paper as well, in case anyone is interested...

"The study done in Japan also bases its rationale on genetic information, but further focuses its application to T-helper cell involvement.  As aforementioned, this study done by Shimada et. al. supported the exaggerated role of interferon-gamma in genetically predisposed T1DM patients.  Another study conducted in Chile by Garcia et. al. also identified this same vitamin D receptor polymorphism, BsmI, to be related to T1DM incidence in their study as well6.  This finding further supports the proposed exaggerated T-helper cellular response mechanism.  Since a T-helper cellular response could be invoked by a viral infection or an environmental factor like an immunization triggering an immune reaction to form antibodies, vitamin D status is further supported as a pervading factor in T1DM risk.  Since those with familial history or otherwise known genetic predisposition would be very liable to vitamin D deficiency based on the previously mentioned genetic studies completed in Germany, Japan, and Chile, supplementation of vitamin D and frequent exposure to UVB should be considered to decrease risk of T1DM diagnosis.  Further studies are required for researchers to understand the precise involvement of vitamin D and vitamin D receptors in T1DM’s etiology, but the studies published to date do indicate with sufficiency that there is a very strong relationship between the two."

References:

1. Shimada A, Kanazawa Y, Motohashi Y, et al. Evidence for association between vitamin D receptor BsmI polymorphism and type 1 diabetes in Japanese. Journal of Autoimmunity. 2008 Jun;30(4):207-11.

2. Littorin B, Blom P, Scholin A, et al. Lower levels of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D among young adults at diagnosis of autoimmune type 1 diabetes compared with control subjects: results from the nationwide Diabetes Incidence Study in Sweden (DISS). Diabetologia. 2006 Dec;49(12):2847-52.

3. Hypponen E, Laara E, Reunanene A, Jarvelin MR, Virtanen SM. Intake of vitamin D and risk of type 1 diabetes: a birth-cohort study. Lancet. 2001 Nov;358(9292):1500-3.

4. Mohr SB, Garland CF, Gorham ED, Garland FC. The association between ultraviolet B irradiance, vitamin D status and incidence rates of type 1 diabetes in 51 regions worldwide. Diabetologia. 2008 Aug;51(8):1391-8.

5. Ramos-Lopez E, Brueck P, Jansen T, Herwig J, Badenhoop K. CYP2R1 (vitamin D 25-hydroxylase) gene is associated with susceptibitity to type 1 diabetes and vitamin D levels in Germans. Diabetes-Metabolism Research and Reviews. 2007 Nov;23(8):631-6.

6. Garcia D, Angel B, Carrasco E, Albala C, Santos JL, Perez-Bravo F. VDR polymorphisms influence the immune response in type 1 diabetic children from Santiago, Chile. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. 2007 Jul;77(1):134-40.

15

The statistics are accurate, indeed I've seen some documents which indicate that as many as 75% of all caucasians have a risk of autoimmune diabetes (type 1), and even higher in certain ethnic groups, notably people of Finnish, other Scandinavian countries and England as well as those from Sardinia, Italy have a higher-than-average risk of developing the disease.

Anyway, I wanted to share that I am one of 2 siblings in my family who has type 1 (my older sister has it, too).  Lucky us!

 

[quote user="Jenny"]

Hi!  I was reading through the forums and in Type 1 diabetes:Statistics Kristy had said that she had been told that 90% of Type 1 diabetics have no family history.  That got me thinking! 

I am frequently asked if anyone in my family has diabetes, if that is how I got it.  Most people are reffering to Type 2 and how it is hereditary. How  un-educated population is about Type 1 another post for another day!

Anyway, do you have any one else in your family with Type 1?  If you are Type 1 do any of your children also have Type 1?  Are you a parent of a child with T1 but no one else has it?  I am just curious!

As for me, my  Mom's, cousins' son is a Type 1, but there is almost NO blood relation between us so I'm pretty sure that means nothing.   My sister does have psoriasis, which is also an auto-immune disorder, so maybe we are pre-disposed to auto-immune diseases.  who knows! 

[/quote]

 

16

Well, whaddya know?! I'm Finnish! (Okay, a mutt, but a good chunk Finnish.)

17

Other then my moms cousin(my 2nd cousin)there is noone else in our family with type 1. 

Have a good day!

18

My sister who is now 28 was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was seven and I was diagnosed at age 15.  So far both my brothers are doing okay. Here's hoping.  Oh yah... my dad's cousin.. I think... was diagnosed at around age 28 with type 1 Diabetes.

19

This is so interesting finding out new things. I always thought Type 1 Diabetes was hereditory (correct spelling?) but now i'm seeing that it's not really.

In my immediate family I am the only type 1 but then I have 7 cousins with it and 5 uncles/aunty's and my grandad all have type 2.

Not sure how it works but I think the type 2 is just a weight and diet issue ??? But I definitely think the Diabetes gene is alive and well in our family!! 

20

Type II DM is due to insulin resistance and actually starts as a disease of the lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides). So it starts as cardiovascular and ends with burn out of the pancreas in production of insulin. The treatment focus is first on making the pancreas more sensitive to insulin by sorta unlocking the closed (resistant) beta cells. This is done by oral medication. The actual medications that treat Type II burn out the beta cells further which advances the disease to insulin dependent Type II DM. The pancreas tries as it might to produce more and more insulin but it does not have enough working beta cells to process the insulin. That is also why Type II insulin dependent diabetics require more insulin than Type I diabetics. (their Levemir/Lantus doses are over 100units at night sometimes). The way to prolong the onset of TypeII is diet, exercise and weight management. All of these protect the cardiovascular system. If you are destined genetically for Type II it will develop. Those with Type I really need to realize this fact. That's it in a nutshell but if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to elaborate. LOL I may live with DMI but my main patient population is DMII.

Type I diabetes starts out with the pancreas and ends with the cardiovascular system. Healthy diet, exercise, weight management are just as important to prevent complications of the disease later but in the beginning tight glycemic control is most important. If the blood cells are covered with sugar they are not going to provide oxygen to the blood vessels. Whether or not your heart, eyes and kidneys are working at the time is not the problem. It is the cells that are slowly and gradually dying in these areas due to lack of oxygen. Luckilly we have a lot of kidney and heart cells so that some damage is unnoticable. Like each time we take medications and they are metabolized throught the kidneys a minute bit of damage may be done to the kidney, but in our lifetime we may not even realize it. Unless our kidneys are taxed by other processes. My theory is that I am teaching my daughter how to eat healthy now so that later on she won't have to go through "changing" her diet and lifestyle one inevitable day. I see a lot of patients that struggle for healthy changes every day. It would be so much easier if it was a normal daily process to be healthy. Perhaps this is impossible but I am going to continue to try. With or without driving her nuts in the process. LOL