When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, we were told that type 1 usually doesn’t run in families. With my family that was certainly true. But a few months later, we found out that one of my second cousin’s on my mom’s side was diagnosed about the same time as me. It was weird because we were close to the same age and in the same generation and both diagnosed with type 1 diabetes within the same year (I think).
What I have found out over the last year or so, learning about genetics and biology and about my own family, is that I do have a lot of thyroid disease and rheumatoid arthritis on my mom’s side of the family. These are all considered autoimmune diseases. I learned in my genetics class this summer that often times type 1 diabetes shows up in families with histories of these types of diseases.
Autoimmune diseases are interesting to me. This human body, which is so intricately designed to fight against intruders, decides to go overboard and attack things that aren’t intruders. In fact, they are its own body. Weather it be joints, thyroid glands, or islets of Langerhans, the body decides somehow that they are foreign and must be destroyed.
I don’t know why my body got misinformed. It just did. I’ve also heard some things floating around that perhaps viruses trigger our bodies to attack themselves. This would explain something like identical twins where one has an autoimmune disease and one does not. But I don’t remember ever being sick. In fact, the sickest I remember ever being was having the stomach flu on thanksgiving one year AFTER I was diagnosed with diabetes.
It’s all so crazy. Why me? Why this disease? Will I ever know? Will further genetic research explain the truth? Perhaps find a cure?
I don’t know.
I do know that I had a blast at my family reunion this weekend. And I got to hang out with my Type 1 diabetic cousin. She’s pretty awesome.
Oh, and this was taken at Bonnie Doon’s Drive In in Mishawaka, Indiana. And yes, we both ate ice cream.
One Family, Two Type 1's.
The SaJaBla Life 
Yay ice cream! 🙂
I do find it interesting that in some cases type 1 seems to be inherited, others not; some cases seem to be linked to a virus or illness, others are not. In regard to your identical twin theory, that makes total sense. Except I have type 1 and my identical twin sis doesn’t and I was not sick anywhere around my diagnosis. That makes me wonder – does the human body ever make sense? :p
That is so interesting! You know, my grandpa had type 1, and I always figured I was at risk for getting it, but I never considered it could have a genetic link to other diseases. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism while I was pregnant with Caleb, which was confusing, because I don’t really fit the profile of people who have thyroid disease. But reading this makes me wonder if it’s a genetic issue. Thanks for posting this!
My celiac doctor also told me that having one autoimmune disease puts you at higher risk for developing another autoimmune down the line. How unfair is that?