I’m considering a future with a type 1 (that’s insulin-dependent for the lay people) diabetic.
Looking at a random web MD site I find that the only risk factor for developing type 1 diabletes is a family history of it. Now there’s no way she could have a child as her kidneys don’t function at 100% as it is. What I want to know is what are the chances her offspring would develop diabletes if we were to use a surrogate?
I happen to know that currently there are many tests that have been developed to detect genectic abnormalities. Does a test exist for the detection of diabetes risk factors? If we were to go IVF would it be possible to select a non-risk factor embryo?
My mother had type 1 diabetes, So here’s what I know about the risks. It happens every two generation with a chance of about 50%. Anyway, that’s what the familly doctor told us. But some research i made confirm this. If you use a surrogate, i tend to think that the risk are virtually null. But still, their’s always a risk.
I feel compeled to point out that diabetes is not as worst as it use to be. IMHO, a child with diabetes who gets a good education and good treatment will probably live healtier than most of us. Here’s why…
The tools are better, Right now, one can have an insuline pump which is a really small device that’s attach to the body ( it’s external ) and is programmable. It continuously inject small amount of insuline and try to simulate what your body would normally do. This coupled with a good glucometer and good planing will keep the sugar level in blood in normal level.
Also, diabetes force you to get away from raffined sugar which is very ( very ) good for health. With a good diet.
The long term effect of diabetes are mostly cause by the variation of sugar level in the blood and the overdose of insuline needed to control that. With carefull planing, sugar level are kept at good level and no extra insuline ( more than in normal people ) is needed to control it.
I Also add that research are going pretty well on diabetes a lot of thing have been found, and it is realistic to think that we will be able to cure it completely in 10-20 years.
The only downside is that when your child reach about 15 yrs old he/she might revolt against authority and start fooling around with drug/alcohol… but wait… that’s bad for everybody isn’t it
Thanks for the link. The one in 100 number is encouraging, but I’m not sure about their math. Further down the page they say,
“These factors mean that your children can still get diabetes even though their risk is low. The average American has a 1-in-100 chance of getting Type 1 diabetes and a 1-in-9 chance of Type 2 diabetes. Even if your child’s risk is no higher than anyone else’s, he or she still could get diabetes.”
If there are 250 million Americans and something like 50,000 people have type 1 diabetes, that’s more like 1 in 5,000, not 1 in 100 for the average American.
meta-x, thanks for your input. Why does the use of a surrogate have such a large affect on the probability do you think? Is this effect the solution to a clinical trial of some sort?
I would not want a child of mine to have to deal with the sort of things I’ve seen. I would sooner not have a child than produce one with serious health issues and a seriously limited potential.
So even if neither parent is a Type 1 diabetic, there is still about a 0.3% chance their child will develope diabetes.
Another thing I should point out is that insulin dependence does not necessarily indicate Type 1 diabetes. While all Type 1 diabetics take insulin (except perhaps during a “honeymoon period”), many Type 2 diabetics also require insulin. Only through a C-peptide test can your SO determine that she is in fact Type 1.
