Type 1 diabetics who have a sibling with diabetic kidney disease have twice the risk of developing this complication. A total of 537 patients diagnosed with diabetes between 1965 and 1979, and their 616 diabetic siblings, were followed for the development of diabetic kidney disease. Researchers from the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, found that a total of 323 cases of diabetic kidney disease occurred in the study group. The rates of diabetic kidney disease among siblings of affected and unaffected type I diabetes were 38 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. Subjects with a sibling with kidney disease were 2.3 times more likely to develop the condition themselves compared to the subjects without a sibling with diabetic kidney disease. The risk was even higher if severe kidney disease was present. Other risk factors for diabetic kidney disease included male gender, being diagnosed with diabetes during puberty, and having a parent with type 2 diabetes. Although most diabetic sibling pairs don't both have kidney disease, having an affected sibling doubles a person's risk.
Diabetes,
September 2004