Two of my children have type 1 diabetes. They were diagnosed about three months apart two years ago. At that time, I entered my youngest daughter into TrialNet research to check for antibodies. They came out negative. I was given an option to check every year but declined. Now, my youngest is showing signs of diabetes. My question isn’t so much about diabetes but about antibodies. Can you not have them and two years later have them show up? If so, why do the testing at all if it will be different every year?

These are great questions but we do not really know the exact answers. We know that sometimes antibodies are present for years in advance and sometimes things change and they go from negative to positive. It could be an environmental factor such as vitamin D or gluten. Sometimes they go from positive to negative as well. Genetics plays some role as an underlying factor. I would urge you to contact your diabetes team and get antibody levels tested, perhaps do some blood glucose profile monitoring and even get a baseline A1c. Then, this information can be used for comparison purposes to what you previously had tested and also for future testing. Most importantly, of course, is if symptoms develop (excess thirst, excess urination, night urination or bed wetting and weight loss) to check blood glucose levels as well and not allow ketoacidosis to occur.

SB