This heredity thing

[Old Holborn]

I?m one of those sad people researching their Family Tree. Being told that Diabetes has a tendency to be heredity I got the Death Certificates of many of my relatives, close, distant and extended. Can?t see any deaths diabetes related. 6 to Smallpox, 14 to TB, 3 to Cancer, they are very remote, 1 to encephalitis, my Dad, 2 to Epilepsy, my siblings, the rest 17 to Heart, including my Mother, aged 81, of the rest the youngest was 77.

 

[jessreborn]

my father and fathers mum both type 1
I am type 1
one of my sisters is type 1.5
other sister clear of diabetes

 

[velcrohead]

I have type 1 and there is no history at all of diabetes in my family apart from me.

 

[SilentAssassin1642]

i didnt think the d was genetic? at least t1? t2 is sort of though right? I know both my nanny and grandad have t2 and so did my aunty jane, god rest her soul.

i'm the only one in the family with t1 or any form of diabetes. My nanny and grandad aren't blood relations so they don't count lol.

 

[Northerner]

No history in my family either, although my Dad has psoriasis which is also auto-immune like Type 1, so not sure if that is a genetic disposition generally.

 

[Caroline]

Look at things like those who had heart attacks. Often that will go on the death certificate rather than the diabetes. Poorly controlled diabetes can lead to other things like kidney failiure or heart attack.

My dad and an uncle are type 2, but round the family there are a number of auto immune conditions, including astnma, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthririts, and any number of allegies.

 

[Steff]

I am the only type 2 so mine cant be heredity.

 

[Caroline]

I am the only type 2 so mine cant be heredity.

Just shows how diffierent advice is depending on where you live. I was told with a first degree relative (my dad) and a second degree relative (my mums brother) I had a higher chance of devloping it.

 

[Steff]

Just shows how diffierent advice is depending on where you live. I was told with a first degree relative (my dad) and a second degree relative (my mums brother) I had a higher chance of devloping it.

Second degree ss my uncle who is type 1 thats it, and as far as i know unless my dad aint telling me he has a clean bill of health.

 

[Northerner]

I am the only type 2 so mine cant be heredity.

Not everyone with the gene will develop it, as there are also thought to be environmental factors involved, so your close relatives may have the gene but get away with it. I'll move this to the general board as it's not really off topic!🙂

 

[Becca]

Rose is the only one on both sides of the family with type 1. However, my husband has an underactive thyroid and so does his father and aunt - so def. an autoimmune thingy going on there 🙂

 

[cazscot]

Dad T2, Maternal Grandmother T2, think Paternal Grandmother was T2 as well (though not diagnosed before her death but had all the classic symptoms when I look back). Two maternal aunts with Underactive Thyroid. (Dont speak to maternal side so there could be a lot more conditions I now dont know about). Sometimes I am glad Hubby and I dont have kids - can you imagine our gene pool

 

[shiv]

there was a great aunt twice removed or something that had type 1...so it's in my genes somewhere along the lines.

i'm the only one in the family with it.

 

[SacredHeart]

My mum and maternal Grandma have T2, but there's no history of T1 anywhere, so that makes me the first. What a dubious honour.

 

[LisaLQ]

My grandad on my dads side was type 2, but died of cancer, so his death cert would say cancer I presume - maybe why there's no note of it in your family's?

I blame my dad for my PCOS as in theory it's passed on from the father (no really lol even though he has no ovaries!), hence grandad on his side having type 2 being the family link for that (PCOS is linked to diabetes).

 

[Dizzydi]

It's in mine

Maternal Grandma Type 2 diagnosed age 60 (First born female to mother)
Mother Type 2 diagnosed Age 42 (First born female)
Me Type 2 Diagnosed 35 (First born female)

Cannot go any further back as granny was adopted.
Keeping fingers crossed my sisters don't follow suit.

 

[Peter C]

I blame my dad for my PCOS as in theory it's passed on from the father (no really lol even though he has no ovaries!),.

yes and the genes for baldness in men are apparently carried on the female chromosone !🙂

 

[AlisonM]

Maternal Great-granddad probably had it, he had circulation troubles and died from blood poisoning aged 86. Two great-uncles had it, my mother probably did too but was never diagnosed because, I don't know why, she had high cholesterol, high BP and was overweight as many of that side of the family are. I don't know about my dad's family.

 

[Peter C]

I?m one of those sad people researching their Family Tree. Being told that Diabetes has a tendency to be heredity I got the Death Certificates of many of my relatives, close, distant and extended. Can?t see any deaths diabetes related. 6 to Smallpox, 14 to TB, 3 to Cancer, they are very remote, 1 to encephalitis, my Dad, 2 to Epilepsy, my siblings, the rest 17 to Heart, including my Mother, aged 81, of the rest the youngest was 77.

Hi Old Holborn,
Virtually every ailment is put down to genes nowadays isn't it ? We all have about 100,000 genes ( I think) and we all have a couple of dozen wrong-uns in that lot for various diseases. It just depends on other factors whether they get expressed or not. As Prof Jones ( the pop geneticist) says, if every body smoked Lung Cancer would clearly be seen to be genetic.
Thing is we had 8 great grandparents 120 years ago and 16 great-great grandparents 150 years ago. Very few us ( you might as a genealogist) know who they were, let alone what ailed them and what they died of. And of course life expectancy was lower - they could die in their 40s and have passed on the genes for diabetes without ever developing it themselves.
The big hypothesis is about the Stone Age. The genes for Type 2 diabetes appear to be so widespread and so well conserved and obligingly passed on to us, that geneticists theorise that they must have been beneficial at one stage in our evolution. The scenario runs that the genes for Type 2 would have been useful in a period of feast and famine. A lot to eat sometimes and nowt much for long periods. People with Type 2 would have their bgs kept up, especially if they were older folks on the margins of the tribe. Thuye would survive famines better and of course their genes would get passed on. So in famines T2s are at an advantage - its just a bugger when there is plenty of food and we are living longer. Diabetes first diagnosed by the ancient Egyptians - no coincidence that they were the first civilisation based on a secure supply of carbohydrates/wheat ?
The other exciting field at the moment in relation to Type 2 Diabetes is the study of Epigenetics. Some reaearch is showing that if your grandad suffered a famine at the time of puberty or your granmother suffered a famine period while in the womb then their genes were effected and expressed as T2 in grandchildren. There is some very convincing research from detailed records in Northern Sweden on Epigenetics and T2.

 

[LisaLQ]

yes and the genes for baldness in men are apparently carried on the female chromosone !🙂

PCOS, diabetes and baldness, my kids are gonna love me!