Type 2 diabetes has a stronger link to family history and lineage than type 1, and studies of twins have shown that genetics play a very strong role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Race can also play a role.
A predisposition to develop type 1 diabetes is passed through generations in families, but the inheritance pattern is unknown.
The causes of type 2 diabetes are complex. This condition results from a combination of genetic and lifestyle factors, some of which have not been identified. Studies have identified at least 150 DNA variations that are associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
There is a genetic risk for T1D, although 80% of people with T1D have no family history of the disease.
A 2013 review on the genetics of type 2 diabetes suggests the chances of inheriting the disease are as follows: One parent: There is a 40% lifetime risk for someone with one parent who has type 2 diabetes. Both parents: There is a 70% lifetime risk for someone who has both parents with type 2 diabetes.
If you have a mother, father, sister, or brother with diabetes, you are more likely to get diabetes yourself. You are also more likely to have prediabetes. Talk to your doctor about your family health history of diabetes.
There are more than 120 genetic loci suggested to be associated with T2D, or with glucose and insulin levels in European and multi-ethnic populations. Risk of T2D is higher in the offspring if the mother rather than the father has T2D.
What causes type 1 diabetes? Type 1 diabetes occurs when your immune system, the body's system for fighting infection, attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Scientists think type 1 diabetes is caused by genes and environmental factors, such as viruses, that might trigger the disease.
Type 2 diabetes does not progress to type 1 diabetes as they are two different conditions. Treatment for type 2 diabetes may go from diet and exercise to oral medications to non-insulin injectables and eventually to insulin injections over time.
There's more to why people get type 2 diabetes than you may know. Although lifestyle is a big part, so are family history, age, and race.
Type 1 diabetes is considered worse than type 2 because it is an autoimmune disease, so there isn't a cure. Also, in a 2010 report⁴ from the UK, it's estimated that the life expectancy of people with type 2 diabetes can be reduced by up to 10 years, while type 1 can reduce life expectancy by 20 years or more.
Diet and lifestyle habits don't cause type 1 diabetes.
Diabetes Odds
If you're a father who has type 1, your child has about a 1 in 17 chance of getting it. For mothers with type 1 diabetes who give birth: Before age 25, the child has a 1 in 25 chance. At 25 or older, the child has a 1 in 100 chance, which is about the same as anyone else.
In previous studies, the risk of developing familial type 1 diabetes has been reported to be more than two times higher in the offspring of affected fathers than in those of affected mothers.
Currently, there isn't a cure for type 1 diabetes. However, what we know about the condition is constantly evolving, new technologies and medicines are being developed, and researchers are making important breakthroughs. Right now, people of all ages are leading full, healthy lives with type 1 diabetes.
Stress doesn't cause diabetes but it can affect your blood sugar levels and how you look after your condition.
Life expectancy estimates for individuals with type 1 diabetes in these reports ranged from approximately 65 years of age to 72 years of age. The CDC currently estimates the average US life expectancy is 76.1 years, the lowest figure since 1996.
Ninety years ago, type 1 diabetes was a death sentence: half of people who developed it died within two years; more than 90% were dead within five years. Thanks to the introduction of insulin therapy in 1922, and numerous advances since then, many people with type 1 diabetes now live into their 50s and beyond.
The pancreas produces very little or no insulin at all in people with type 1 diabetes. For this reason, everyone with type 1 diabetes will require insulin. Insulin is given under the skin, either as a shot or continuously with an insulin pump.
In most cases of type 1 diabetes, people need to inherit risk factors from both parents.
Type 2 diabetes most often develops in people over age 45, but more and more children, teens, and young adults are also developing it.
There is no cure for type 2 diabetes.