Type 2 diabetes born with

Learn the Genetics of Diabetes

If you’re living with diabetes, you probably have a lot of questions.

Type 2 diabetes born with

You've probably wondered how you developed diabetes. You may worry that your children will develop it, too. You’re not the only one asking these questions—and we are here to help.

What leads to diabetes?

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different causes, but there are two factors that are important in both.

You inherit a predisposition to the disease, then something in your environment triggers it.

That’s right: genes alone are not enough.

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One proof of this is identical twins. Identical twins have identical genes. Yet when one twin has type 1 diabetes, the other gets the disease, at most, only half the time. When one twin has type 2 diabetes, the other's risk is three in four at most.

Is type 1 diabetes genetic?

In most cases of type 1 diabetes, people need to inherit risk factors from both parents.

We think these factors must be more common in whit