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Monogenic diabetes is an uncommon disease, it should not be taken lightly at all, for if left untreated, can cause some serious health problems. Read complete information about how to fight with it.
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Monogenic Diabetes: The Not-So-Typical Genetic form of Diabetes Submitted By : University of Chicago Medicine Kovler Diabetes Center
It is a common notion for all of us to fall for the fact that Diabetes runs hereditarily in a large number of families.However, one cannot deny the fact that people are still ignorant to those multiple genes present in our body increasing the risk of Diabetes Mellitus (Type 1 and Type 2). Also, this turns out to be the reason why Diabetes is being labeled as a polygenic disease.
With the evolution moving forward at its own pace, now, even a single gene getting mutated can lead to a lesser known form of Diabetes known as Monogenic Diabetes. Though much is not heard about the disease, but a large number of diabetic patients seem are already diagnosed with it- from 1% to 5% to be precise. According to the Kovler Monogenic Diabetes Registry, the younger lot is more likely to suffer from this disease, that is infants, children or even young adults are easily getting prone to Monogenic diabetes. • The sad part of the story is that nearly 80% of the cases go undiagnosed due to inattentiveness and lack of information.Although Monogenic diabetes is an uncommon disease, it should not be taken lightly at all, for if left untreated, can cause some serious health problems. Many times, the Monogenic diabetes symptoms are often mistaken for the symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes, which is even more dangerous as mistreating the disease can increase up to the risk factor.However, unlike the latter one, some forms of Monogenic diabetes can be merely treated with drugs rather than injecting them with some form of insulin.
What is Monogenic Diabetes? Monogenic diabetes does not account simply as a manifestation of insulin resistance. Remember that, Monogenic diabetes is not just a word, but it is a phrase that collectively describes a large number of rare but hazardous diabetic disorders, all of this by a mere mutation that can occur in any gene even remotely connected with the regulation of the sugar metabolism of the human body. The diabetes research centers have identified nearly 30 different genes in which this mutation can take place.Thus, identifying the mutated gene surely comes up as a difficult task for the doctors as it plays a key role in looking out for the exact symptoms and then in the later phase where the treatment has to be decided.
However, for the sake of simplicity, Monogenic diabetes has been classified into two forms: • Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus(NDM) • NDM is a disease that the infant is likely to face from the first six months of his life which challenges his ability to produce or utilize insulin. 2. Maturity Onset Monogenic Diabetes(MODY) • MODY refers to the type of the hereditary form of diabetes that is caused by the mutatitons in the autosomal dominant genes that are responsible for insulin production.
Monogenic Diabetes Treatment: As discussed earlier, once the gene is identified, it becomes easier for the doctors to plan the treatment. Thus, they resort to genetic treatment as the best solution for diagnosing. But, it is not suitable for a large number of patients as not only is it an expensive procedure(costing nearly $1000), also it is not backed up by the insurance companies thus raising up the expense quotient a bit higher.
Pediatricians often recommend getting the babies tested if they have been facing high blood sugar levels for a longer period of time.However, nearly 50% of the MODY children go undiagnosed, for it is almost impossible to identify the disease without the classic symptoms. • Treatment of this disease varies from person to person. Some of them can be cure with the help of routine exercises and drugs, or even insulin injections can create wonders.However, a patient may need to get himself treated for related conditions such as Gout and kidney cysts.(This happens only in some rare forms of MODY and chances of this are almost negligible)
Hereditary Effects: As we know that, any form of diabetes is a hereditary disease.Thus, If the parent is suffering from any form of Monogenic diabetes, there is a strong probability of his child to suffer from the same at an early age.Thus, talk to your doctor about if anyone from your family is suffering from this rare disease and if recommended, get your children tested as well. Summary: The following content describes about the Monogenic Diabetes, lack of awareness about it and some common diagnostic methods also highlighting its types and symptoms.
University of Chicago Medicine Kovler Diabetes Center 1 2 3 4 https://kovlerdiabetescenter.org/ Call : +1 773-702-2371 Open 24 Hrs 900 East 57th St. Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States