Type 1 Diabetes

What Increases Your Risk

Risk factors for type 1 diabetes include:

• Family history of type 1 diabetes. Having a family history of the disease increases the chance that a person will have islet cell antibodies, but it does not predict that a person will have the disease. Only about 10% to 15% of people with type 1 diabetes have a family history of the disease.¹
  • If the father has the disease, a child has a 6% risk of developing it.
  • If a sibling has the disease, a child has a 5% risk of developing it.
  • If the mother has the disease, a child has a 2% risk of developing it.
  • If an identical twin has the disease, the other twin has a 30% to 50% risk of developing it.
  • If a parent and one sibling have the disease, a child has a 30% risk of developing it.
• Race. White people have a greater risk for developing type 1 diabetes than black, Asian, or Hispanic people.
• Presence of islet cell antibodies in the blood. People who have both a family history of type 1 diabetes and islet cell antibodies in their blood are likely to develop the disease at some time.
• Certain viral infections during childhood. A child who has enterovirus infections, particularly Coxsackie B infections, has a risk almost 6 times greater than other children for developing type 1 diabetes. However, this does not mean that the child will definitely develop the disease. In fact, doctors are uncertain if these infections play a role in the development of diabetes.³