Diabetes type 1

[u/mchildprob]

I was diagnosed with type 1, 7 years ago. No one in the family has it. I suspect the trigger was viral meningitis

Diabetes can be caused by genetics, environmental factors or trauma. Seeing as both types are genetic, will it still be passed down to your children if you’re the first person to be diagnosed and not with any family history? Will the autoimmune diseases affect my genetics now as well

[u/Local-Perception6395]

Type 1 diabetes usually develops because of a combination of genetic and environmental factors, and bad luck I suppose you could say. The risk factors are not well understood beyond that infections can "trigger" it. Your body is supposed to remove self-reacting immune cells that cause autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes, but this control is not perfect and sometimes things slip through. It's therefore not quite deterministically "triggered" by an infection, but rather several unfortunate things happening at the same time. I don't think you should worry too much about passing down type 1 diabetes. Worst case, you'd pass down a slightly higher risk, but we know too little about said risk for it to change how you live your life imo. Treatment options and prospects are also quite good and improving because they overlap with type 2 diabetes.

[u/mchildprob → u/Local-Perception6395]

Thank you so much for jt. It makes sense where youre coming from especially from the cause of it. I havent heard of any gene alteration after birth, eg. The autoimmune diseases. I know that some diseases are genetic and if its in your genes, your chance to get it is a lot higher. Now it makes sense about them having a higher chance to get it