# Type 1 genes?



## Tom1982 (Feb 16, 2022)

As a parent of a type 1 child is there a chance one of us could be diabetic too? 
The missus just noticed I’ve done 7 pints of water since I got in from work! Obviously the chances are it’s nothing, more just curious really.


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## Lucyr (Feb 16, 2022)

There's a chance anyone can be diabetic, whether or not they have a T1 child. Can you do fingerprick / ketone checks to check yourself?


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## Lily123 (Feb 16, 2022)

Same as @Lucyr says , anyone can be diabetic and you could do a fingerprick to reassure yourself it’s nothing if you can?

Although in my case I have two Type 2s in my family and I’m the only Type 1.


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## Tom1982 (Feb 16, 2022)

Lucyr said:


> There's a chance anyone can be diabetic, whether or not they have a T1 child. Can you do fingerprick / ketone checks to check yourself?


Yeah can do. Not that bothered but if it’s still the case tomorrow I’d probably check it out. More just curious than anything. Sure the daughter would love doing my jabs in a few years!


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## Inka (Feb 17, 2022)

Tom1982 said:


> As a parent of a type 1 child is there a chance one of us could be diabetic too?
> The missus just noticed I’ve done 7 pints of water since I got in from work! Obviously the chances are it’s nothing, more just curious really.



Most people with the Type 1 genes don’t go on to develop Type 1, and 90% of people who develop Type 1 do _not_ have a close relative with it. It needs a trigger. It's 20% genetic, 80% environmental, as they say.

But if you’re worried, you should do a blood test and speak to a doctor if necessary.


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## trophywench (Feb 17, 2022)

Drinking a gallon of liquid in an evening, is absolutely not normal, surely?

Admittedly there were men who used to do that with mates down the pub years ago - but not without noticing they had themselves ......


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## rayray119 (Feb 17, 2022)

I did find out it was in my family my great grandad had it.   drinking loss was one of my symptoms.


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## Sally71 (Feb 17, 2022)

My mum as well as my daughter are both type 1 and I think my mum said she had an aunt who also had it, so there’s definitely a genetic link in my family!  My mum was diagnosed in 1967 aged 22 and my daughter in 2012 aged 6.  My brother and I do not have it and neither do my brother’s children so far, fingers crossed!  I believe that you inherit the tendency towards it but there needs to be some sort of external thing to trigger it.  In my mum’s case she thinks it was the shock from when my dad had a motorbike accident which almost killed him (they had only been married a year when she was diagnosed and it was long before I came along!).  My daughter had a virus, she became ill on the night of her 6th birthday, it was one of those which makes you really ill for a week and then you take another week to recover properly. We caught it off her and gradually all recovered but I could smell what I now know to be ketones on her breath all the time (at 8am she would smell like she had just troughed a large bag of Haribo sweets when she had eaten nothing since the night before) and she was diagnosed exactly 7 weeks after her birthday.

But I also know people with type 1 who have no family history of it at all, so it can happen to anyone.  If you keep drinking that much over the next few days I would strongly suggest you get it checked out, even if it’s not diabetes there might be something going on.


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## Tom1982 (Feb 17, 2022)

Sally71 said:


> My mum as well as my daughter are both type 1 and I think my mum said she had an aunt who also had it, so there’s definitely a genetic link in my family!  My mum was diagnosed in 1967 aged 22 and my daughter in 2012 aged 6.  My brother and I do not have it and neither do my brother’s children so far, fingers crossed!  I believe that you inherit the tendency towards it but there needs to be some sort of external thing to trigger it.  In my mum’s case she thinks it was the shock from when my dad had a motorbike accident which almost killed him (they had only been married a year when she was diagnosed and it was long before I came along!).  My daughter had a virus, she became ill on the night of her 6th birthday, it was one of those which makes you really ill for a week and then you take another week to recover properly. We caught it off her and gradually all recovered but I could smell what I now know to be ketones on her breath all the time (at 8am she would smell like she had just troughed a large bag of Haribo sweets when she had eaten nothing since the night before) and she was diagnosed exactly 7 weeks after her birthday.
> 
> But I also know people with type 1 who have no family history of it at all, so it can happen to anyone.  If you keep drinking that much over the next few days I would strongly suggest you get it checked out, even if it’s not diabetes there might be something going on.


The smell!!! I thought only Jo had that. Like a sweet slightly odd smell. That was so weird. Is that a ketone thing!? Does everyone get that?


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## Sally71 (Feb 17, 2022)

Tom1982 said:


> The smell!!! I thought only Jo had that. Like a sweet slightly odd smell. That was so weird. Is that a ketone thing!? Does everyone get that?


Yes that’s what ketones smell like, very sweet sort of chemical smell, like pear drops.  Funnily enough when my daughter was a baby she used to get a similar smell on her breath every time she had a cold, which I found slightly alarming, but it always went away again when she got better.  Maybe starvation ketones if she was off her food.  But with that virus when she was 6 the smell never went away and we eventually found out why!  It didn’t seem like much to go to the doctor with when she seemed fine otherwise, and even my mum said i was making a fuss about nothing, but I decided to keep an eye on her and eventually it became obvious that something was wrong.  We completely missed the drinking loads though and thought she was just being greedy with apple juice!

I’ve since wondered why we bother to get ketone strips from the doctor because my nose tells me if my daughter has them lol


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## rayray119 (Feb 19, 2022)

How's everything now?


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## Thebearcametoo (Feb 19, 2022)

We’re part of the BOX study which is an ongoing study into causes including genetic links. They have tested all of us for particular auto antibodies and those of us in the family who have continued in the study do annual tests to add to the data. You could choose to know if there was a current risk of you getting diabetes and none of the rest of us had any increased risk and we have no type 1 on either side of the family although my side has some people with type 2.


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## Ditto (Feb 19, 2022)

That is a lot of water! Takes me all my time to get four pints down when I space them out during the day and evening!


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## Tom1982 (Feb 19, 2022)

rayray119 said:


> How's everything now?


I’m in good nick now cheers. Although I’m still drinking a lot more than normal! Must admit I normally go a day without even having a drink so probably just dehydrated.


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