Diabetic Information For Those With Diabetes In Their Family History

Diabetes is definitely a genetic disease ... meaning that IF you have diabetes in your genes, you have a good chance of getting it.  But that doesn't mean that you WILL get it.

Diabetic Information Can Be Gained From Your Family Tree

Case in point ... my grandmother had diabetes, but she was the only one of my 4 grandparents to have it.  (Whew, guess my chances are not too high there.)

Diabetic Information Shows That Sometimes It's The Most Unlikely Ones Who Get It

My grandmother that had diabetes had 5 sons ... but only 1 son has diabetes.  Surprisingly enough, 2 of the sons have always been considered obese, 2 of them manage to maintain their weight at an acceptable level, and 1 of them was a beanpole all his life.  Guess who has diabetes?  The Beanpole!  (Whew again ... my dad is NOT the Beanpole!)

I have ONE cousin who is pre-diabetic and likely will become diabetic in the next few years.  There are 11 of us in that generation but only 1 has it so far even though the average age of the 11 of us is over 40.  Is she the daughter of the Beanpole?  Nope ... she actually belongs to the one most people would have thought would be diabetic.  Go figure!

But what does that tell the other 10 of us?  While our parents may not be diabetic and our grandfather wasn't, we did all get some of the gene from our grandmother.  So there is the possibility that any of us could become diabetic at some point.  So what should we do?

Diabetic Information To Watch For The Disease

Well, the basic stuff comes to mind first ... we need to watch our diet and our weight and exercise at least moderately.  But we also need to be on the lookout for any signs of diabetes, make sure our doctors know of the family history of diabetes, and we need to get tested at least periodically.

Nobody wants to get diabetes and after seeing how it has affected my uncle, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.  But as the saying goes, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."  If you are going to get diabetes, wouldn't you rather know sooner than later so you can start controlling the disease as soon as possible?  So do you have diabetes in your gene pool?  When were you last tested?

If you or someone you know has diabetes and is on Medicare, there is a good chance you will qualify for free diabetic supplies.  Find out now!