One trigger might be related to cold weather. We think these factors must be more common in white people because white people have the highest rate of type 1 diabetes.īecause most people who are at risk do not get diabetes, researchers want to find out what the environmental triggers are. In most cases of type 1 diabetes, people need to inherit risk factors from both parents. When one twin has type 2 diabetes, the other's risk is three in four at most. Yet when one twin has type 1 diabetes, the other gets the disease, at most, only half the time. That’s right: genes alone are not enough. You inherit a predisposition to the disease, then something in your environment triggers it. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different causes, but there are two factors that are important in both. You’re not the only one asking these questions-and we are here to help. You may worry that your children will develop it, too. You've probably wondered how you developed diabetes. If you’re living with diabetes, you probably have a lot of questions.
