Have to say I am amazed that five of my six brothers and sisters have diabetes Type 1 like me. My older sister got it first when she was 16, I was next at age 20. It was then followed by a progression of another brother at 20, a younger sister at 35, a younger brother at 35, and then a younger sister at 45. Our oldest sister never got it which is qhy she was able to give one of her kidneys to a sister with kidney complications. My dad was one of seven also with five brothers who had diabetes. Nothing on my mom's side. We share a lot of information together and with me in the original DCCT study and now the EDIC study I can also provide them with additional information on the latest research, etc.
Hi John, I'm curious about the children of you and your siblings... is there Type 1 within that group as well?
I was diagnosed at age 27 and I have two brothers, one who was diagnosed Type 2 around age 40 but he is on insulin and I'm not sure he's really Type 2. My younger brother has not yet been diagnosed (age 39). My daughter is almost 24 and I'm constantly reminding her of the symptoms since she is so close to the age at which I was diagnosed. I hope that she escapes it but I also worry for any children she may have in the future.
Wow. Thank you for sharing. Your family shows how Type 1 is a more appropriate name than “juvenile” diabetes! I wonder how many people with adult onset Type 1 are misdiagnosed as Type 2. Good luck with it all.
Wow! That's quite a family! So much for "natural selection" getting rid of disadvantageous mutations! Y'all must be sexy as hell... ;-)
The children which there are five of total do not have any signs of Type 1 diabetes. I had two of them participate in a study which did test to see if there was a sign that they could develop diabetes down the road - it was part of a study at the Joslin Clinic and only one had a propensity for it. The remaining four were adopted for the reason of not passing on diabetes and ironically my one sister's son came down with diabetes at age 8 - he is now 22. But with the knowledge in our family it is probably for the best that he is a member of our family - he has a strong support system.