If you have a history of diabetes in your family at what age would you get your child tested? This question would apply even if they don't show any signs of having the condition.

My parents noticed that I was eating/drinking a lot at the age of 3. They got me in right away and I was diagnosed. It's painless to get tested for Diabetes. I think people should get tested everytime they see their doctor if it runs in the family. Diabetes is called the silent killer.

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Christopher Berry
Diabetic Discussion

Here is a conundrum.. I was diagnosed as " havings omething similar to what your parents have jerry" then slowly the owrld borderline came through.. Every thre emonths mysteruious shots and blood and urine testst. But never was it told to myparents outright that I wa diabetic. It was alwyas somehting similar. but I had ot watch my diet, I was forbidden bread of anykind.. but never spoke. This was back in 1964.
When I was in my teens and I went to teh doctors they had teh histroy of my familya nd though my fasting BG always showed elevated nothing was ever done.
When I wa sin my twenties and slept for three months, dropped 112 pounds and lost my hair, and my fasting BG was 285.. nothing was done. This wa sin 1996. It wasnt until 2000 that an abcess that alomost took my leg led a doctor to say those fantasic confirming words.....

doctors many times wont confirm it, they may skirt the issue, and thats whyso many really truly diabetics gone undiagnosed, Prevalence os metabolic syndrom forces them not to take confirmable diabetes to heart. I think its time that we shodl go back to confimed hospita stay GTT and openly acknowledge the differenmce between borderline and true full blow diabetes.

Getting the doctors ot do this is a hard trick though. Everyone with a family histry shoudlbe given a base GTT to strart with..........

Well, if you have Type 1 diabetes in the family, you'll know it when you see it! It usually seems to appear suddenly with a vengeance, and the person will be VERY sick. If left untreated, the person will fall into a coma and eventually die. You can't miss that! There are some tests that can screen for the auto antibodies that are the precursor to Type 1, but since we have no way to prevent it, all these really do is say that you are "high risk" for becoming T1. You may or may not get it. Either way, the symptoms of T1 are VERY obvious, in practically all cases.

For a family with Type 2, regular screening is a must, in my opinion. It doesn't always have symptoms early on.