With a steady increase in the cases of Diabetes Mellitus diagnosed each year, people are asking “Is Diabetes hereditary?” Hereditary dictates that an individual is predisposed to developing Diabetes because a parent, grandparent, or other close relative also suffered from Diabetes. First, there are two major classifications of Diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2. Both types of Diabetes differ due to their etiology, pathology, and treatment, while symptoms and complications are the same.
Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the Immune System has been compromised by an illness or infection of some sort. Researchers are still unclear on this origin, but speculate it could even manifest as a vitamin deficiency or a virus. In short, the infection causes an overactive Immune System to attack its own beta cells, which are located in the pancreas and responsible for producing insulin.
When insulin is not available, excess sugar in the blood causes elevated levels of blood glucose. This person is insulin dependent (Type 1) and requires external methods like injections or pumps to deliver this hormone to the bloodstream. Once in the system, it can transfer sugar from the blood into muscles, fats, and tissues for energy. As this disease is due to an illness, many people would guess that the reply to “Is Diabetes hereditary?” is no for Type 1. This statement is not necessarily true.
Type 2 Diabetes, has nothing to do with the Immune System. A person usually produces sufficient levels of insulin, but the body is unable to absorb the hormone, due to various risk factors. These factors include being overweight, having high levels of blood glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides. Being inactive can heighten the risk, as well as getting older. Since this disease is the result of poor lifestyle choices, it can be prevented and treated with diet and exercise, which would seem to indicate that Diabetes is hereditary.However, it is not that easy. Diabetes is very complex, and the etiology of Diabetes or, the question “Is Diabetes hereditary?”needs further review.
Is Juvenile Diabetes Hereditary
Asking “Is Juvenile Diabetes hereditary?” is equal to asking if Type 1 Diabetes is hereditary. Type 1 used to be referred to as Juvenile Diabetes because most people contracted this disease during childhood. As older people can get this disease, they changed the name. Research shows that if a parent or sibling has this disease, that the family member should be inclined to develop Type 1 Diabetes as well. Fortunately, that is not always the case.
Medical professionals believe that while certain genes need to be present for this disease (hereditary), some sort of environmental factor needs to manifest in order to start the disease. For example, if a mother with Type 1 Diabetes has a set of twin girls, both girls are predisposed to having Type 1 Diabetes, but suppose only one of the twins develops Diabetes. This scenario would suggest that the twin with Diabetes was introduced to an environmental factor, whether it is an infection, virus, or illness that triggered her Diabetes. Statistics also show that children who were breastfed and started solids at a later age were less inclined to develop Diabetes. This finding may suggest that breast milk or baby food fostered possible antibodies, which inhibit certain diseases. For parents who truly want to know if their child is at risk, medical professionals can conduct numerous tests to factor risk, check for genes, and test for antibodies.
Is Gestational Diabetes Hereditary
Similarly, asking “Is Gestational Diabetes hereditary?” is almost the same as questioning if Type 2 Diabetes is hereditary. Gestational Diabetes is Type 2 Diabetes that a female develops in her second or third trimester of pregnancy. Before getting pregnant, this woman had no prior diagnosis of Diabetes. Gestational Diabetes is insulin resistance, just like Type 2, but the major difference is that after the baby is born, the condition will go away. A mother who has Gestational Diabetes in one pregnancy though, is likely to have it in subsequent pregnancies.
While Type 2 Diabetes has a higher relation to genetics, lifestyle also plays a very important role. For example, a person may be predisposed to having Diabetes, but if they are extremely active, physically fit, have low blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and eat a balanced diet with no alcohol or caffeine; one would assume his or her risk would decrease exponentially. This scenario is atypical though as families not only share genes, but also they usually share behaviors as well. Most families who are sedentary couch potatoes with poor eating habits usually produce the same traits in their offspring.
