Is Diabetes Genetic? What Caregivers Should Know
According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 38 million Americans have diabetes. The prevalence is even higher in seniors, with nearly one-third of adults 65 and older diagnosed. As a caregiver, there’s a good chance your care recipient has or is at risk for diabetes.
There are typically multiple factors that contribute to a person’s risk of developing diabetes mellitus. Understanding the various causes of diabetes, including genetics, allows you to provide better care for your care recipient and help them manage predispositions.
Here, we talk about:
- What causes diabetes
- The different types of diabetes
- The role genetics play in causing diabetes
- How to manage your care recipient’s risk of diabetes
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Diabetes & Its Causes
Diabetes mellitus, commonly referred to as diabetes, is a chronic health condition characterized by high blood glucose (blood sugar) levels.
Insulin is a hormone created and released by the pancreas to maintain normal blood sugar levels. When someone has diabetes mellitus, they either:
- Don’t produce any, or enough, insulin due to damage in insulin-producing cells
- Have developed insulin resistance
Both cases result in high blood sugar.
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is known as juvenile diabetes because it is usually diagnosed in childhood. It is an autoimmune disease. The immune system attacks the insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas, a process called islet autoimmunity.
There is no single known cause for type 1 diabetes. However, there is a clear genetic component. The risk of developing type 1 diabetes if one of your parents has it is between 1 in 17 and 1 in 25. If you don’t have a family history of type 1 diabetes, your risk of developing it is only 1 in 250.
It’s thought that if you have a family history of type 1 diabetes, factors like an infection or exposure to a toxin could trigger it. If your care recipient has type 1 diabetes, they were likely diagnosed long ago as a child.
Type 2 Diabetes
Unlike type 1 diabetes, developing type 2 diabetes occurs later in life and is less clearly related to genetics.
Insulin resistance is the underlying cause of type 2 diabetes. The causes of insulin resistance are complicated and include a combination of:
- Genetics. People with certain genes or a family history of diabetes are more susceptible to type 2 diabetes.
- Lifestyle factors. A sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and obesity all contribute to type 2 diabetes.
Why Are The Genetics Of Diabetes Important For Caregivers?
It’s important that you understand the diabetes risk factors for your care recipient. This can empower you to help them better manage their risk factors, potentially helping them prevent diabetes or get diagnosed earlier.
Monitoring For Health Problems
It’s likely that one of your many roles as a caregiver is to monitor your care recipient’s current health issues and any changes that could signify new problems. Knowing if your care recipient has a family history of type 2 diabetes or specific genetic markers for it means you can more carefully monitor for symptoms.
Managing Risk Factors
While a person can’t control their genetics and predisposition to diabetes, other risk factors can be managed. For example, even with a genetic tendency to develop diabetes, exercise, a healthy diet, and a healthy weight can counterbalance that risk. As a caregiver, you can help your care recipient make positive lifestyle changes to reduce their overall diabetes risk factors.
Complications Of Diabetes
Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can significantly affect daily life and lead to other serious health issues, especially if not diagnosed and carefully managed. You can help your care recipient prevent the development of diabetes or help them get diagnosed early to minimize health issues.
Potential long-term complications of diabetes include:
- Poor heart health, which can lead to heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases
- Kidney damage and kidney disease
- A weakened immune system
- Neuropathy, which is nerve damage that can lead to pain, sores, infections, and amputations
- Vision loss in one or both eyes
- Depression and other mental health issues
Genetic Testing For Diabetes
If your care recipient has been diagnosed with diabetes, you can talk to their doctor about genetic testing. They can advise you and help you decide if it would be useful. Doctors generally recommend screening for patients when the diagnosis is for an unusual or rare type of diabetes. They might also use genetic testing when they suspect someone has been misdiagnosed with diabetes, or diagnosed with the wrong type.
Screening For Diabetes
In general, screening for diabetes is recommended for anyone over the age of 35 or with:
- A high BMI (body mass index) or a waist measurement of more than 35 inches in women or 40 inches in men
- Family history of diabetes
- A history of past gestational diabetes
- A sedentary lifestyle
- High triglycerides or cholesterol
- Certain conditions, including fatty liver, heart disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, and atherosclerosis
- A history of using certain medications, like glucocorticoids or antipsychotics
Fasting Blood Glucose Test
Screening for diabetes usually begins with a fasting blood glucose test. Your care recipient will need to refrain from eating for a certain amount of time, typically overnight. They will then have blood drawn, which will be tested for glucose levels.
A1C Test
An A1C test measures average blood sugar levels over a few months. The A1C test does require a blood draw, but it does not require fasting.
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test
An oral glucose tolerance test can also help diagnose diabetes. To do this test, your care recipient will have 2 blood draws for testing. The test checks their blood sugar levels before and then two hours after drinking a sweetened liquid.
Monitoring For Symptoms
If your care recipient has genetic risk factors for diabetes, with or without other risk factors, they should be screened regularly, as recommended by their doctors. As the caregiver, you also play an important role in helping to catch prediabetes or diabetes early.
Monitor them for any health changes that seem concerning, but also look specifically for symptoms of type 2 diabetes:
- Increased thirst and urination
- Increased hunger
- More frequent vaginal or urinary tract infections (in women)
- Fatigue
- Wounds that heal more slowly
- Blurred vision
- Dry skin
- Unintentional weight loss
- Numbness or tingling sensations in the hands or feet
The signs of type 2 diabetes can be subtle. They also tend to develop slowly and over an extended period of time. This can make it challenging to note changes. If your care recipient has important risk factors for diabetes, consider logging these symptoms. Keep regular records of things like hunger, thirst, urination, and fatigue to help you identify changes more easily.
Can Diabetes Be Prevented?
It is possible to prevent or even reverse prediabetes or type 2 diabetes in many people. The first step toward prevention is understanding risk. Know your care recipient’s risk factors, including genetics and family history. If they have risk factors, discuss screening, genetic testing, and lifestyle changes with their doctor to prevent diabetes.
References
- American Diabetes Association. (2023). Statistics about diabetes.
- Cleveland Clinic. (2025). What is type 1 diabetes?
- Lyssenko, V., Groop, L., & Prasad, R. B. (2015). Genetics of type 2 diabetes: It matters from which parent we inherit the risk. The review of diabetic studies: RDS, 12(3-4), 233–242. https://doi.org/10.1900/RDS.2015.12.233
- Medline Plus. (2024). Long-term complications of diabetes.
