Mothers with Diabetes: Will Our Children Suffer, too?
Worried that your child might develop diabetes? If you’re a woman who has type 1 diabetes, the chance of your children (or future children) having type 1 diabetes as well is about 5%. If you’re already a mother with it and you gave birth to a child before you turned 25, the probability is decreased to 4%. If you get pregnant and give birth to a child when you’re over 25 years old, the chance of your child ending up with type 1 diabetes is 1%.
You’re child’s risk of having type 1 diabetes is twice as much if you’ve been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before your 11th birthday. If both you and your husband have this type of diabetes, then your child’s chances of having the same condition is a disturbing 25%.
As for the case of type 2 diabetes, this can be diagnosed in anyone at any age. This is also largely influenced by the kind of diet and lifestyle that a person follows.
If
you’re diagnosed with type 2 diabetes below 50 years old, your child has
a 14% chance of having the same type of diabetes. It lowers to around 7%
if you have type 2 diabetes beyond 50 years old.
Logically, a child’s chances of having diabetes are increased when the
mother has the disease, because she is the one who carries the child for
9 months. Of course, whatever the condition of a mother’s body affects
that of the baby inside her womb, because the baby is exposed to high
glucose levels in the mother’s blood. If the mother and father both have
type 2 diabetes, or even both their families have a history of type 2
diabetes, then the chances of their child having the same disease is an
alarming 50%.
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