Is diabetes hereditary? Genetic risk of type 1 diabetes

If you have type 1 diabetes, you may worry that your child will have the same disease as you. Or if your mother or father had the disease, what would it be like for you? In other words, is type 1 diabetes hereditary?

Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which your immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas. These are called beta cells. This condition is often diagnosed in children and young adults, so it was once called juvenile diabetes.
A condition called secondary diabetes is like type 1, but your beta cells are wiped out by something else, such as an illness or injury to your pancreas, and not by your system. your immune system.
Both of these are different from type 2 diabetes, in that your body doesn't respond to insulin the way it should.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes are often insidious, but they can become serious. Those symptoms include:
Extreme thirst Increased feeling of hunger (especially even after eating). Dry mouth Irritability and vomiting Frequent urination Unexplained weight loss, even though you are eating a lot and feeling hungry all the time. Fatigue Blurred vision Heavy breathing (your doctor may call this Kussmaul respiration). Frequent skin, urinary tract or vaginal infections. Irritability or mood swings Bedwetting in children not at night Signs of an emergency with type 1 diabetes include:
Trembling and confusion Rapid breathing Fruity smell on your breath Abdominal pain Loss of consciousness (rare)

Insulin is a hormone that helps move sugar, or glucose, into your body's tissues. Your cells use it for fuel.
Damage to beta cells caused by type 1 diabetes reduces insulin production. The glucose then doesn't move into your cells because the insulin isn't there to do the job. Instead, sugar builds up in your blood and your cells starve. This condition causes high blood sugar, which can lead to:
Dehydration: When blood sugar is high, you will urinate more often. It's your body's way of getting rid of it. A large amount of water will pass out with the urine, leaving your body dehydrated. Weight loss: Glucose that goes out when you pee carries calories. That's why many people with high blood sugar lose weight. Dehydration also plays a part in weight loss. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA): If your body can't get enough glucose for fuel, it metabolizes fat cells for energy instead. This creates chemicals known as ketones. Your liver releases the sugar it stores to help get it into your bloodstream. But your body can't use it without insulin, so it builds up in your blood, along with acidic ketones. This combination of excess sugar, dehydration, and acid buildup is called ketoacidosis and can be life-threatening if not treated right away.
Damage to your body: Over time, high levels of glucose in your blood can damage the nerves and small blood vessels in your eyes, kidneys, and heart. They can also make you more susceptible to hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Your genes certainly play a role in causing type 1 diabetes, a less common form of diabetes often diagnosed in children and young adults. But like many things in life, it's a combination of environment and upbringing.
Your environment, from where you grew up to the food you eat, is also important. Researchers don't know exactly how and how many factors come into play, but all of them affect your chances of getting the disease. Your genes set the stage, but you can't be sure how it will all turn out.
There is no single diabetes gene that is turned on or off to predispose you to type 1 diabetes. Instead, a group of genes plays a role, including dozens of genes that have the greatest influence, the HLA gene. They make proteins that your immune system uses to keep you healthy.
Since type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, which means your body destroys the cells that make insulin, it makes sense that the HLA genes would have some influence on the condition.
There are thousands of versions of them in the human genome. What you get from your parents greatly affects your chances of getting diabetes. Some genes make you more likely to get it, while others can help protect you from it. You have type 1 diabetes if your body makes little or no insulin, a hormone that helps the body convert sugar into energy.
Certain genes are more common in one group of people than in another. That's why race and ethnicity also affect everything. For example, white people are more likely to develop type 1 diabetes than people of color.
But even if you have a gene that makes you more likely to get type 1 diabetes, it doesn't mean you will definitely get it. Even with identical twins (who have identical genes) sometimes one has the condition and the other doesn't. It is due to the influence of the environment.

Many tools and tips can help you control your type 1 diabetes. But if it's not controlled, the disease can affect several organs, including your brain. Blood sugar spikes and drops have been linked to depression, reduced attention span and slowed reaction times, taking a toll on you both physically and mentally.
A 2014 study published by the American Diabetes Association found that really high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) can slow brain development while it's developing. This has a great impact on the development of children with this disease.
Brain imaging shows the difference between a child with diabetes and a child without the disease. The researchers still found no major differences in their IQ, mood, behavior, learning and memory skills. It's not yet clear if the disease can affect things like muscle movement and the speed at which a child processes information.
Adults with long-term type 1 diabetes have slower physical and mental responses. The condition doesn't seem to affect a person's ability to learn and think, the researchers say. But memory and attention can be affected.
Type 1 diabetes is like type 2 in that it is associated with a high incidence of depression. It is caused by high blood sugar and the stress of managing a long-term illness. The longer your blood sugar levels stay really high or low or fluctuate to extremes, the more likely your brain is to be affected.
The best defense against this disease is to control your blood sugar, eat a healthy diet and follow all instructions from your doctor.
At Vinmec International General Hospital, we always deploy a screening package for diabetes and dyslipidemia to help detect pre-diabetes early, accurately classify diabetes type, develop a nutritional regimen, monitoring to minimize the risk and complications caused by diabetes.
Vinmec International General Hospital with a system of modern facilities, medical equipment and a team of experts and doctors with many years of experience in medical examination and treatment, patients can rest assured to visit. examination and treatment at the Hospital.

Reference source: webmd.com