“Is diabetes hereditary?”

You definitely can inherit the risk for developing diabetes, both Type 1 and Type 2. However, a strong family history by no means means you are guaranteed to get the disease if you make positive lifestyle decisions. In fact, the majority of patients that focus on the 4 Pillars of Health — food, movement, relaxation and community (www.4pillarsdenver.com) — will not get develop diabetes even if both parents and multiple siblings have it.

However, if you follow a normal standard American diet and lifestyle of limited movement, poor sleep, lots of sugar and refined carbohydrates, poor stress management and screen addiction, then you are almost guaranteed to get diabetes.

For Type 1 diabetes, the hereditary risk is lower, but as with all auto-immune diseases, you inherit the susceptibility and can then set yourself up to get the disease by having poor gut health (low quality diet, infections, antibiotics, NSAIDs [i.e., Aleve and Motrin], and acid blockers).

Type 2 diabetes has strong genetic component. Statistically, if both of your parents have type 2 diabetes, your chance to carry insulin resistance genes which cause type 2 diabetes is almost 100%. With that said, type 2 diabetes is a preventable disease because it has environment components in addition to genetics. With lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise, one can reduce insulin resistance, therefore, prevent or delay the disease state.

Yes predisposition to diabetes is hereditary.

Yes, and the chances are very high