Hi there

My sister was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes last week. Glucose levels were 26. Symptoms have been glaringly obvious in hindsight - deteriorating eyesight, strange breath odour, tingling and numbness to name a few. Silly woman should have investigated earlier.

Anyway, despite having been quite overwieght for a very long time, exercising not-at-all, and over indulging in alcohol and rich foods, she is maintaing her diagnosis is genetically linked and there is a "hidden gene" for Type 2 Diabetes. Are any of you sufferers aware of this/have been told this by medical professionals ?

We have no diabetes anyway on either side of the family. I always thought Type 2 was lifestyle related and was triggered by such.

Am I wrong ? I am more than happy to stand corrected

Also, one other query please. Our ageing Mother (who has multiple health issues) has a dry mouth she has been told is a side effect of medication. My sister maintains she has diabetes too. She has her glucose levels checked regularly (last 2 weeks ago) and they are perfect. Is it possible to have Tupe 2 diabetes and have NORMAL blood glucose levels ? I thought not ? Mum has asked the Dr is it possible she has diabetes and has been told No ! ?

Sorry to hear about your sister.
There is usually diabetes in the family back ground but not always, when I was diagnosed 7 years ago I knew no-one with Diabetes, I started researching family and found cousins with it, also I am convinced my Mother was an undiagnosed diabetic, sadly she had already passed away, I asked my sister (who Mum lived with) if she had ever been tested, she said not to her knowledge. My sister is boarder line diabetic. Mum has several medical conditions, I had a talk to my GP and after I told him her medical history as I knew it he was 99% sure she was a diabetic. Your sister symptoms were glaringly obvious, pity she didn't act sooner, being over weight and not exercising and eating the wrong diet should ring alarm bells for everyone.

I have asked my entire family to register the fact that there is diabetes in the family with their GP's.

The only way to know for sure if you are diabetic or not is to have a GTT..........I can test in the "normal" range.

Anyone can become diabetic, slim people, obese people, young or old, never think it cannot happen to you.

I do hope your sister can get her levels under control and make the necessary life changes, consistent high BGL's the more risks there are of kidney damage, blindness, strokes, heart attacks and death. How old is she? Would she come on here, we are a very supportive group of people who could help her.

Best of luck to her on this journey.

Thanks Annie S !

No I doubt VERY much my sister would join EBB, though I will suggest it when I feel she may be receptive. She is 55.

Re : Our Mum - has had a Glucose Tolerance Test recently too. This was normal. Could she still be a diabetic with this being normal ? I think that is how I read your reply.

If we do have diabetes in the family, we do not know about it. But this said, we are a family that run against the statistical odds. If something odd is going to happen medically, it will happen to us! Seriously, don't even get me started, for the list goes on and on and on of "one offs" and " medical misnomas".

Thanks again for your prompt response.

Hi Camom, Diabetes can miss a generation, this happened to "our" Gus on here. No if your mother's GTT was normal she is OK for now.

I have a friend who was tested 12 months ago and her GP said she didn't have diabetes, this woman is very over weight, doesn't/can't exercise (other medical problems) she had another test recently and her HbA1c was 6.6 which is higher than mine, her GP still said she is not diabetic but to watch what she eats.

Hi Camom,

The regulars on here are going to roll their eyes at the number of times I have mentioned this...... BUT, when I was a teenager my father, a doctor, mentioned that diabetes can skip a generation. His mother was diabetic but neither he nor any of his five siblings were ever diabetic, but I am and I have a sister on the 'watch' list.

So, if your immediate parents generation showed no signs of diabetes perhaps you could look to the generation prior and see if there is any traceable indication.

I assume the "26" refers to an A1c reading, and certainly she had many signs and like many of us have had a wonderful sense of denial.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, her race should be on to get herself under control. Thankfully I had a fast onset and fast control which hopefully has reduced my long term damage. The sooner she does the same the better, Those tingling toes and fingers is damage under way and who knows what else is affecting her......

Take care because we care, Gus

LMAO Annie! Consider me just a man of few words who keeps repeating himelf

LOL Gus, I had assumed the *26* was a BG reading would be interested to know what her HbA1c was

Nope we have no one at all in our family on either side back 4 generations as far as we know.....????? Heart and blood pressure, diabetes, no. Same for IBD and yet my son has Crohn's. That's just the way it goes I guess, and you can't blame everything on genes as much and all as we might be tempted too.

My sister has indeed been VERY foolish to ignore her symptoms for so long. Denial must be her middle name, as she did the same thing a few years back with bleeding from the bowel.......Mmmmm. Turned out to be diviticulii, BUT it could have been the Big C. And we are talking about a highly intelligent professional woman with 2 degrees !

I am distressed to know her symptoms point to some degree of perhaps irreversible damage. Oh dear. She also tells me she has been losing co-ordination ability and has been staggering alot. Silly Billy had herself convinced she had Motor Nueron Disease, but STILL didn't seek medical attention.

Let this be a warning to us all ay ?

Camom, I doubt very much if they would have been testing for Diabetes 4 generations back, when I was diagnosed as I said 7 years ago and brought up with my GP about my mother he said they didn't routinely test back then, well at that time she had been gone only 5 years.

The threat of amputation is another thing to worry about, I know of several diabetic's who have lost toes, then legs to this condition, just two weeks ago a friend of my DH lost his leg after his toes and been removed but it didn't solve the problem.

It's a progressive condition but can be slowed down when care is taken.

It may not be so much losing coordination and staggering, and more that she is physically exhausted because her cells are not getting the insulin required to provide energy in the cells. The sugars that should be firing the cells is trapped in the blood due to insulin resistance. And being overweight may make that tiredness appear like staggering.

Just my hunch, but just your observation alone is a warning something is very wrong....

Gus

Hi, here's some blah as I understand it...

Diabetes is of genetic origin and does not always show but is carried through the generations.

Some people are disposed to this and if carrying the gene become diabetic. Important to note that of course not all overweighters become diabetic because the gene is not carried.Lot of crap in media about O'weight,couch potatos etc in danger of getting Diabetes but wont if gene not present but prob get some other nasty....

A large percentage of us are Dx'd by our GP's running yearly Glucose Tolerance Tests and noting the rising trend, others by symptoms arising as mentioned by previous posts.

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/ is helpful. Jenny whose site it is runs HbAic around 5.0 by low carbing but she has scientific info.

Hope all works out for you and we will all think of you at this Christmas Time :-)

Hay Annie S - of course you are right !

No routine testing for diabetes dating back to Great Grandparents so no way of definitively knowing. It's just that we have a very detailed family tree with lots of details on health due to the longevity of my Great Grandma who was a midwifery medic with a vested interest in health and family, her own included. She started the family tree and probably only died at 98 due to falling and breaking her hip (cutting her own firewood in winter) and becoming hyperthermic !

Gus - my detailing of staggering etc is my sisters own explanation of current behaviour, not my own observations. She has been losing 1kg a week for the last 10-12 weeks, and is no longer overweight.

Pdogge - thankyou very much for the link.

Thank you ALL for your information. It has been very helpful to assist me in my understanding

Hi Camon,

I trust the weight loss is a result of her intentional and concerted effort to lose the weight. UNEXPLAINED weight loss is one of the body's coping mechanism to regain normal sugar levels and has to be considered a serious symptom.

I had it, along with every other symptom you could research and I lost 15 kg in a matter of about 6 weeks through no effort of my own. In spite of that my HbA1c was still 17 at Dx.

Gus

No Gus, this is what is so worrying.

Her weight loss has not been intentional at all !
I must admit HbA1c at Dx is Double Dutch to me. This all is.

Very steep learning curve for us all.

Thank you

Hi Camom,

The Hb1Ac is the figure obtained by a Laboratory which is done via a bloodtest and shows the average Blood Sugar Level over a three month period which GP'streat as the Gospel.

Dx is abbreviation for Diagnosis.

We are all still Learning -Type 2 is a very puzzling condition as we all react differently.

Hi Camom,

Red blood cells have a lifespan of about 90 days. The HbA1c measures the average blood sugar content of ALL the cells, thus giving your GP an indication of the AVERAGE sugar content over a 90 day period.

The finger prick test gives a reading of the sugar levels at THAT EXACT MOMENT, which even in non-diabetics can have momentary spikes and thus are less accurate in diagnosing a person's long term performance. You use this test to see what foods spike your readings and how fast it happens after eating

A GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST is another term you will likely run across too. This measures the red cells speed of processing the sugars into the blood, giving a general idea of the speed at which the body is processing insulin into the cells.

Yes, it is always a fast learning curve when suddenly thrust upon you. Good on you for being here and learning, knowledge is power.

Happy day, Gus

Hi folks,

my understanding is that there is both a genetic component and an environmental component to the development of Type 2.

There was an interesting study on twins some years back (forgive me, I can't lay my hands on the reference just atm). It found that in identical twins, if one twin develops type 2 - the other is about 75% likely to also develop it.
In fraternal (non-identical) twins, if one twin develops type 2 - the other is only 50% likely to develop it.

The study's conclusion is that there is a genetic predeliction, which is 'activated' by environmental and/or lifestyle factors. If it were purely genetic, then genetically identical twins would be equally susceptable, if it were purely environmental, then the rates would be the same as for non-identical twins.

I am working from memory here, but I'm fairly sure that my recollection of the study is accurate.

Hope that helps the discussion.


Liareth

Hi everyone

Interesting about environmental conditions and Type 2. I don't know what the connection is with Agent Orange and Type 2 but all Vietnam Veterans who served at the same time are now Type 2. Type 2 is on the Presumptive List for both New Zealand and American Vietnam Vets which means they're entitled to a War Pension when diagnosed. DH is a Vietnam Vet with Type 2.

Long time now LL but remember (not accurate,y) V Vet's in USA having dispute with their Gov't re genetic changes following tour of duty that exposed them to Agent Orange

This IS interesting....we have a friend who falls into this category.

My sister has been oversea supporting her daughter and has just returned to NZ extremely unwell. Her blood sugar levels are still sitting at 26 but am unsure what her other marker is. She has been told she needs to report to her Dr daily.

Thank you everyone for your info. It has been most helpful.

Camom, the longer your sister's levels sit at this high level the more damage she is doing to her organs, it's no wonder her GP wants her to report daily.

I do hope you she manage to get her levels under some control.

Good luck to her and to you.

Hi Camom,

Those are the truest words one could speak.

As for any environmental reasons for T2, here are mine. Weighing over 150 kg, sitting at a computer 12 to 14 hours per day, eating KFC because I was too busy for proper meals, listening to clients complain about all the tax they had to pay, and dealing with a Federal Bureaucracy that was convinced the lying bu**ers weren't paying enough.

Cut my case load from 500 to 350 files, lost weight, started walking, got on the proper meds and life ever since hasn't been all that bad.

Happy day, Gus

Control of Type 2 IMO is totally a change of attitude,a different way of life, and a different way of eating.

Totally like duck shooting get your ducks in line and boom.

Hay I thought I would give you guys an update on my sister.

It is interesting as the onset was so rapid and is running so far out of control. There is some suggestion now, (although no real way of proving it I guess) that this MAY have been triggered by Asacol ( active ingredient, mesalamine)

My sister was on massive doses of it to control diviticulii (NOT diviticulitis). Asacol has a known detremental affect on the pancreas........

Hi Camom, thanks for the update on your sister, I have been wondering how she is getting on. I googled side affects of Asacol and it make scary reading.

How did she get on at the Diabetes clinic and is she starting to get her BGL's under control? That's the thing with Diabetes it can lead to other medical conditions, it's a no win situation but hope your sister is on the winning side.

Continued good luck to her.

Thanks Annie S !

BGL's are not well controlled yet unfortunately, so back to the specialist in a fortnight. She is reconciling having to go to the next level and begin insulin injections, but you never know what may happen over the next 2 weeks. She has lost another 3.5kgs, so has plummeted from 84 to 56 kgs.

The great thing about the diabetes clinic for her has been the ability to network with others. It is interesting that 2 women she has connected with both had diabetes triggered by meds (in those cases, confirmed) Interesting huh ?

Sound like she is getting the support she needs. That is a dramatic weight lose, she wouldn't be wanting to lose anymore.
I was 80kg at diagnoses (I am 5ft3) I got down to 58kg which I thought was a bit light so have been settled on 60kg (give or take a 1kg LOL) am happy with that.

Hope she gets on top of her condition, coming to grips with Diabetes is hard.

Hi Cammon,

Good to see that your sister has lost weight, this can only help her, but like Annie says , one would not want her to lose much more. Keeping it off will be the test.

Insulin is the last resort for us Type 2's and if your sister can avoid going on it by proving to the Specialist that she is taking Charge of her condition all to the good.

We are keeping positive thoughts for her ,and hope that one day she will feel free to join us.