Family matters in a very important way when diabetes is the subject. Families often share the risk of diabetes. Knowing your family history is important. If you don’t know your family health history offhand, it’s time to do some research and ask around in the family. For example, who in your family is currently living with diabetes? And who may or may not have had it in the past? Knowing if your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents suffered from diabetes is important information. Knowing this can encourage you and other family members to be tested for diabetes, which is important because if undiagnosed and left untreated, the disease can lead to serious health problems, such as blindness, loss of mobility or limbs, kidney failure, and heart disease.
The family risk of diabetes can be a matter of both nature and nurture. Either a result of shared genetic factors, or shared and inherited lifestyle factors that raise the risk. Here are some suggested questions you can ask to create your family history:
- Does anyone in the family have diabetes? Has anyone passed away as a result of the disease?
- Has anyone been told they have prediabetes, blood sugar higher than normal which might turn into diabetes?
- Has anyone in the family had to lower their weight or increase their physical activity to avoid diabetes?
- Did any pregnant family members develop gestational diabetes?
A yes to any of these questions may mean that you and other family members are at an increased risk for diabetes.