WHY DOES MY CHILD HAVE DIABETES?

One of your first questions about diabetes is the hardest to answer: Why my child? You may feel guilty about your genes, or think that you caused diabetes by letting your child eat too many sweets. In fact, no one really knows why certain people have diabetes. researchers have been working on the question for years without a definite answer. Genes do have a role in diabetes, but now much of a role is uncertain. Close relatives of people with diabetes (siblings, parents, and children) have a greater chance to develop it themselves. However, research has shown that diabetes is not caused by genetics alone. To complicate matters further, the majority of people who develop type 1 diabetes have not history of diabetes in their family. Researchers in diabetes are working to discover what environmental factors, when combined with a genetic predisposition, might begin the chain of events that leads to diabetes. No one has found conclusive results yet. People with type 2 diabetes in their families are at greater risk of developing diabetes themselves. Other risk factors for type 2 diabetes include being overweight, physically inactive, or belonging to certain ethnic groups. African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian Americans are at higher risk.