Is it genetic?

“Diabetes runs in my family, so I know for a fact I will have it also.” When the subject of diabetes is brought up, many people assume that just because some of their family members have diabetes,  they too will eventually become diabetic. Although diabetes may run in your family, it does not necessarily mean that you too will become diabetic. Type one and type two diabetes are diseases with genetic underlining, but there has been no clear pattern of inheritance.1 Type two diabetes is starting to become more and more common over time. Genes from the common type two diabetes are usually regarded as ‘susceptibility’ genes rather than ‘disease’ genes.1

There has been no specific explanation as to if diabetes is genetic or not. This subject is a very difficult and confusing topic to study.2 Although two parents may not be diabetic, their offspring may develop type one diabetes. Without the basic defect if diabetes is elucidated, no further studies will be made possible to show this type of result. There has been a hypothesis that there is a genetic, heterogenous group of disorders that represents diabetes.2

Without further research, we may never be able to tell if type one diabetes is really genetic, or if it is how your pancreas functions from person to person. People with low insulin in their pancreas may become type one diabetic or the amount of insulin is not being used properly in order to control the glucose levels in the body. As mentioned before, type two diabetes might actually be more of susceptibility genes instead of a disease gene.

References:

1Horenstein, R. B., & Shuldiner, A. R. (2004). Genetics of diabetes. Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders, 5(1), 25-36.

2Rimoin, D. L. (1967). Genetics of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes, 16(5), 346-351.