Young and adult children of mothers with Type 1 diabetes are almost half as likely be diagnosed with this condition, compared with those with affected fathers, new research has found.
In general, individuals with a family history of Type 1 diabetes have an 8 to15 times higher risk of developing this condition than the general population. Researchers performed a meta-analysis across five cohort studies involving 11,475 individuals diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and compared the proportion of individuals with Type 1 diabetes with affected fathers vs mothers and explored if this comparison was altered by the age at diagnosis and the timing of parental diagnosis relative to the birth of the offspring.
The research found that individuals with Type 1 diabetes were found to have almost twice as likely to have a father with the condition than a mother, and the protective effect of maternal diabetes was evident regardless of whether the individuals were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes before or after age 18 years.
“Understanding why having a mother compared with a father with Type 1 diabetes offers a relative protection against Type 1 diabetes could help us develop new ways to prevent Type 1 diabetes, such as treatments that mimic some of the protective elements from mothers,” said Lowri Allen, MBChB, an author of this study.
To find out more, CLICK HERE.
