
December 14, 2001
Genetics and Heredity
Question from Cary, North Carolina, USA:
Is there any information that have been done quantifying the risk of a person with LADA passing diabetes to his children? I know in general a person with type 1 diabetes has a 5-6% risk of passing the disease to a child. Is the risk of passing on the disease greater if the disease presents early in life or if the disease presents itself in the late 20s or early 30s? What age is the peak incidence of occurrence of type 1 diabetes in children?
Answer:
There is no known specific information for Late-onset Autoimmune Diabetes of Adulthood (LADA) versus other forms of of type�1 diabetes and genetic susceptibility. If you assume that anyone with type�1A (autoimmune) diabetes has some genetic susceptibility, then the same risks would apply: about 2-3% for women to have a first degree relative/child and about 3-5% for men.
SB