Diabetes and Family History — are you at risk?

1. Diabetes and Family History — are you at risk? Diabetes is a chronic illness, and so far, there is no cure for it. But with careful monitoring, a person with diabetes can maintain good health and live a full and productive life.

2. Genetics Many genetic markers that cause type 2 diabetes have been identified. Family history is also an important predictor of type 2 diabetes. If one identical twin has type 2 diabetes, the chance of glucose intolerance in the other twin is up to 90%. It’s further estimated that people with one parent that has diabetes have double the risk. In the case of people where both parents are diabetic, the risk is increased up to six times. If you have a brother or sister with type 2 diabetes, the risk increases more than four times. The closer the relative, the greater the risk and the more relatives with type 2 diabetes, the greater the odds for other family members. Having three or more relatives with the condition can increase the risk almost 15 times. Because type 2 diabetes is known to run in families — along with other common conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and gestational diabetes– it’s important that people learn and get themselves screened for diabetes periodically. In the context of this year’s World Diabetes Day theme –Women and Diabetes, it has also been noticed that women with a history of type 2 diabetes in the family are at a risk of gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that can occur during pregnancy.

3. Pregnancy & Diabetes A lot of women think twice about the complications that arrive with diabetes, whether it’s safe to become pregnant or not. With the right advice and an expert healthcare team, it is absolutely safe to plan for a baby. You and your medical team have to work together to manage your condition before and during the pregnancy to avoid any unforeseen complications. To enter into a healthy pregnancy, and to ensure good health of the baby, you need to follow dietary guidelines, monitor your blood sugar levels as advised by your doctors, get the prescribed amounts of exercise, and get support from your spouse, friends, and family members. It is important to discuss with a clinical nutritionist in order to manage your food cravings as this can be a game changer. The urge to eat certain foods might jeopardize all your efforts to maintain your blood sugar levels. Lifestyle & Diabetes Simple lifestyle changes can make a major difference in managing diabetes, such as — exercising regularly that helps to maintain a healthy weight, monitoring blood sugar levels timely, eating a well-balanced diet that consists of lots of fruits, green-leafy vegetables, and whole grains and avoiding smoking and consuming alcohol.

4. Over the past one and a half year, Apollo Sugar Clinics has screened around 2, 90,264 people all over India, and the number of diabetics among them were a shocking 95,366.It is therefore very important to know your family history to check for signs of diabetes so that it can be screened, diagnosed, and controlled accurately. Keeping all of this in mind, Apollo Sugar Clinics came up with a whole new way of diabetes care right from the patient’s home. Known as the “Diabetes Home-Care Kit,” this exclusive product is a gift to the nation given by Dr. Prathap C. Reddy (Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group) on World Diabetes Day. This kit allows you to check your blood sugar levels from the comfort of your home and it automatically sends the report to your doctor and family without you moving as much as your finger. Apart from this, it has many other features that make it very easy for someone with diabetes to manage it on a day-on-day basis. Source : https://medium.com/@taarasingh16/apollo-sugar-family-6d6fd47720ca