Will I get diabetes (Type 2) if I am normal weight / slim (I have family history of diabetes)?

[cristinadaou]

Hi. Does anyone knows of any studies or research or from personal experience about incidence of diabetes in normal weight people? I am searching for answers, because it appears that I am at high risk of diabetes because my family history and because I have hypertension, though I am normal weight.

The facts are as follows:

- My dad was diagnosed with full blown diabetes (type 2) at age 52, even if he was only slightly overweight.
- My sister is 51 and she has just found out that she has diabetes type 2 (she had for many years prediabetes). She has hypertension and is normal weight (BMI 24) and has been naturally slim all her life.

Myself I am 41 years old and my blood sugar is normal. I do have hypertension since I was in my early 30’s. For several years I was obese, overweight for most of my life but since 2021 I lost weight and I am normal weight (BMI around 23). I don’t have high cholesterol or triglyceride either, all blood tests are in normal range. Also I am very careful with what I eat, low carb, high protein diet etc.

My question is if I will get diabetes (type 2) too anyway in my 50’s, regardless of my careful diet and normal weight?

PS: I meant diabetes Type 2 (both my dad and sister got diabetes type 2 and I am afraid that I will get also diabetes type 2 in several year)

 

[Inka]

Welcome @cristinadaou 🙂 I presume you mean Type 2 diabetes as most Type 1s are normal weight or underweight at diagnosis.There’s various information out there but as to your personal risk, nobody could say, although you clearly have a family history. Here’s one of a number of studies:

Current Knowledge on the Pathophysiology of Lean/Normal-Weight Type 2 Diabetes

Since early times, being overweight and obesity have been associated with impaired glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Similarly, a less frequent adult-onset diabetes in low body mass index (BMI) people has been known for many decades. This ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[cristinadaou]

Welcome @cristinadaou 🙂 I presume you mean Type 2 diabetes as most Type 1s are normal weight or underweight at diagnosis.There’s various information out there but as to your personal risk, nobody could say, although you clearly have a family history. Here’s one of a number of studies:

Current Knowledge on the Pathophysiology of Lean/Normal-Weight Type 2 Diabetes

Since early times, being overweight and obesity have been associated with impaired glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Similarly, a less frequent adult-onset diabetes in low body mass index (BMI) people has been known for many decades. This ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Hi Inka. Yes, I meant diabetes Type 2. From my knowledge people get Diabetes type 1 in childhood or adolescence, not in their early 50’s or 40’s, like my family did, so I believed that it is obvious when I wrote the post…

Just to be clear, both my dad and my sister got diabetes type 2 in their early 50’s and I am afraid that I will get diabetes Type 2 in several years, regardless my low / normal weight & very careful and strict diet (low carbs, no sugar or soda, very little processed foods).

Thank you for the link

 

[Inka]

..people get Diabetes type 1 in childhood or adolescence, not in their early 50’s or 40’s, like my family did, so I believed that it is obvious when I wrote the post…

That’s not correct. People can get Type 1 diabetes at any age. The oldest person to get it was in their 90s and there are a number of people here who developed it in their 50s. More than half of all new cases of Type 1 are diagnosed in adults. There are also monogenic forms of diabetes known as MODY that run in families.

Here’s a tool that helps you calculate your risk of Type 2:

Diabetes UK – Know Your Risk of Type 2 diabetes

Many people are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes without realising it. Answer the following seven questions to find out your risk and what to do next.

riskscore.diabetes.org.uk

.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @cristinadaou

I can completely understand your worries given your family history, and the recent experiences of your sister.

I got the feeling some years ago that something like 10%-20% of people diagnosed with T2 were normal weight or underweight at diagnosis - but I don’t know if I ever read a source to back that up.

I don’t know that the triggers which move a person from a possible predisposition to diabetes into a diagnosis are fully understood or known. So I’m not sure a confident answer to your question is really possible

Perhaps just see if you can get an HbA1c check every few years to keep an eye on things? It sounds like you are trying to make food choices which should help your metabolism keep on top of things 🙂

 

[Lucyr]

My question is if I will get diabetes (type 2) too anyway in my 50’s, regardless of my careful diet and normal weight?

You might do. You might not. No one here can answer this question.

 

[JITR]

Have a look at this article

ReTUNE study shows remission of type 2 diabetes possible in non-obese people — Radcliffe Department of Medicine

www.rdm.ox.ac.uk

and follow the link at the end to the report on the recent ReTune study.

Towards the end it says '... in the lower BMI range exclusion is necessary of monogenic or autoimmune diabetes which can mimic T2D with 4/24 people (16%) found to have other specific causes of diabetes'. In other words you need to find out whether you are talking about standard T2 in your family, due to accumulation of liver fat - waist measurement of more than half your height can be an indicator, or another cause.