Will My Kids Develop Type 1 Diabetes Too? Is There Anything I Can Do About It?

As a mother with T1 diabetes (and Grave’s disease) I can’t help but wonder “Is my child more likely to develop one of these conditions and if so, is there anything, no matter how small, that I can do about it?”

You’ve probably all heard the term “genetically predisposed to diabetes”.  What does it mean?  Basically it means that you were born with certain genetic markers (that’s just a small piece of your DNA) and research has shown that if you have these certain genetic markers you’re more likely to develop Type 1 diabetes than if you don’t.  We have no control over our DNA, so if we have them, we were born with them and that’s that.  The same goes for our children.  (Read a summary from Joslin Diabetes Center about what you’re child’s genetic risk may be based on relatives with T1).

Outside of the world of genetics though, there are lots of other factors that have been shown to increase (or decrease) your risk of developing T1 diabetes, including environmental factors (like certain things you eat or don’t eat), and your microbiome (that’s the “usually good” bacteria that live inside your body all the time….eww!).  Researchers are doing more and more studies on these other factors every day.  When factors are shown to increase your risk of developing T1 diabetes they’re called risk factors but when they’re shown to decrease your risk of developing T1, they’re called protective factors.  Ahh, as a parent I really like the sound of that…protective factors….

There isn’t anything I can do about my children’s genetic risk factors, or their microbiome (yet), but what about the environmental stuff?  Are there any protective factors, even if they’re small, that I can integrate into our daily lives?  In short, the answer is yes.

Will they actually help to protect my kids?  I’ll probably never know…but turns out most of these small changes, largely related to diet and our environments, are healthier choices for the whole family anyway, so why not try?

Some of the first protective factors we can control as parents are related to infant diet (but there are others that apply post-infancy).  Infant diet protective factors include:  longer duration of breastfeeding (at least 4-6 months), and waiting longer to introduce cow’s milk products (at least 8 days).

As a T1 diabetic these reasons were some of the most important ones for me when I chose to breastfeed my kids…and the main reason I really pushed myself to continue with it for at least a full year.

psst…I’ll be posting about other risk and protective factors periodically under the tag “Type 1 diabetes pathogenesis”.

Related articles

• Study to investigate causes of Type 1 diabetes (abc.net.au)

Breastfeeding with T1 Diabetes for Over a Year: A Pat On the Back!

It’s official.  I quit nursing my son after 13 months.  Part of me wants to celebrate that my body is once again all mine and I have a little more freedom.  Part of me is a bit sad because I won’t be having any more children, so this was my last time to experience that special baby-mommy nursing bond.

What does the diabetic part of me think?

Well, research shows T1 mothers are less likely to long-term breastfeed successfully.  You read a lot of quotes in scientific journals like this:

Click on the image to go to the full article on PubMed.

I’m sure this isn’t a huge surprise to any of us, as most hard things in life are a bit harder with T1 along for the ride.  Nevertheless, I’m proud that I lasted this long (despite the fact that I’m guilty of “down-prioritizing my own needs”).

Research also shows that a longer duration of breastfeeding might help protect my children from potentially developing T1 themselves.   So, I’m proud for that reason as well. I really like to think that despite my broken immune system, I was still able to pass on to my little guy what he needed for his tiny immune system to grow big and strong (hopefully strong enough to know not to attack parts of his own little body!).

I’m also nervous.  I’ve been telling myself that when I finished nursing I would get back on the trail to emphasizing my own health, which means letting my body adjust to the hormone changes that come with quitting (and premature menopause) and then figuring out where my insulin requirements really stand now.  This is daunting.  So much has changed!  I weigh more.  My activity levels are different.  My schedule is more erratic.  I eat a little differently.  I was never afraid of a new variable before.  I watched my BG patterns and I made adjustments as needed.  But this?  This is a LOT of variables that have changed at once.  I almost feel like I’m starting from scratch.  Then again, I knew it was coming, so the jig is up.  I’m on my own once more with no excuses and it’s time to work on stabilizing my BG patterns.

D.W.T: Driving While Tabbing

Today on my lunch hour I headed home and loaded up my 6-year old daughter in the car to take her to her first day of lego summer camp (fun!).  Normally I would have checked my BG before driving at lunchtime but I’ve gotten kind of reliant on my CGM and it said I was fine at 87, so I didn’t bother with a finger prick.  We’re half way there and I start to feel just a little funny, so when we hit a stop sign I whip out my kit just to be sure…53.  Grr! Thanks for nothing CGM!

I suppose the appropriate thing to do would be to pull over, tab-up, and wait for my BG to rise.  What actually happens is this: 

That’s an open container of glucose tabs I’m holding while also shifting gears (no, I didn’t actually take the pic while I was still driving…I’m not crazy!).

Why did I drive-while-tabbing instead of pulling over?

Because in my world a BG of 53 (being treated) isn’t terrifying or dangerous.  In my world it’s just another, albeit wearisome, inconvenience.  In my world you don’t pull over (literally or metaphorically) for the big D unless you really have to….you just don’t.

Instead you adapt, and learn to overcome new challenges.  Dealing with D becomes part of life and you figure out how to get the job done anyway.  For me, popping a few tabs in the car occasionally, while not ideal, has become equivalent to opening a box of crackers for my kid while driving or feeling around on the floor of the car for the baby’s pacifier while driving (you know we’ve all done that one!).

You adjust to how your life is different.  Like when you have kids and your life changes.  It’s still “your life” but now it’s also “your life with kids” and this change brings with it lots of wonderful and not-so-wonderful moments.

My life isn’t only “my life” anymore, now it’s also “my life with diabetes” and my life with diabetes happens at home, at work, on vacation, and yes…sometimes even in the car.

Site Rotation Save Me

So, I’ve always been guilty of not rotating my pump sites enough, in fact you could call me downright resistant.  I guess when I find something I like, I just want to stick with it and after all, I do ask my Endo about it occasionally and he always replies in his usual fashion “All looks good Julie”.

And this pic is only my 7th month…yikes!

For years, I used to use my belly for my Omnipod and rotate through about 6-8 sites but last year, during my pregnancy, I had an enormous belly and a lot of discomfort with my pump, so I started relying on only two sites.

Since then (it’s been 13 months!), I guess I just got lazy, or caught up with putting life ahead of routine diabetes management…we’ve all been there right?  Frankly, I still have 28lbs of baby weight to lose and the old sites (which were largely around my waistband) just aren’t comfortable anymore.

Well, I started noticing that it looked my insulin needs were increasing?!  It didn’t make sense:  I was breastfeeding, not overweight (technically), active, hadn’t changed my eating habits, other medications, etc.  WTH?!

It finally dawned on me that maybe my poor old sites were just worn out.  I Googled it and came across lipohypertrophy and then got scared out of my pants by doing an Image Search for it (fyi, don’t click on this Image Search unless you’re fully ready for the unsettling consequences).  Enough said…site rotation here I come!

Now, I don’t have any signs of lipohypertrophy yet but when I was pregnant, my insulin needs tripled and it makes sense that my insulin absorption rates for those belly sites might have taken a toll.

I’m currently a proud wearer of a back Omnipod…day two 😉  It has it’s issues and will take some getting used to (especially when I try to carry a backpack)…but my sugars have been much lower, while everything else has stayed pretty much the same (same insulin rates, same diet and activity, same morning and afternoon coffee, same evening glass of wine…you get the picture).  So far this experiment is a success, Phew!

Stay tuned for more pod placement experimentation…