Siblings of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes are more than 10 times as likely to develop the disease as children in the general population, a new study found. Family members diagnosed after a first case in the household also tended to be identified at an earlier stage.
The National Institute of Health under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency released the findings on the 13th, analyzing patterns of familial occurrence and clinical characteristics among pediatric type 1 diabetes patients in South Korea. The study was led by Seoul National University Bundang Hospital with support from the institute and covered 936 patients aged 18 or younger who were diagnosed at 18 university hospitals across the country between 2010 and 2024. It is the first and largest multicenter study to examine family history among pediatric type 1 diabetes patients in the country.
Of the 936 patients, 32, or 3.4%, had a family history of the disease involving a parent or sibling. Cases in which a parent had type 1 diabetes accounted for 1.1%.
Among the 779 siblings of the patients, 23, or 3.0%, developed type 1 diabetes. That is more than 10 times the 0.26% incidence rate among the general pediatric population in South Korea. Among seven pairs of twins, both siblings developed the disease in three pairs, a concordance rate of 42.9%.
Patients who were the second in their family to be diagnosed had lower blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels at the time of diagnosis than the first patient, and their rate of diabetic ketoacidosis, a major acute complication, was also significantly lower. The researchers said greater awareness of the disease following an earlier diagnosis in the family may have led to relatively early detection in subsequent cases.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, leaving the body with almost no insulin. It typically develops in childhood or adolescence and requires continuous insulin treatment after diagnosis. Early detection can reduce the risk of acute complications such as diabetic ketoacidosis.
Kim Jae-hyun, a professor of pediatrics at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, said the study is significant in that it confirmed both the pattern of occurrence by family history among pediatric type 1 diabetes patients in South Korea and the specific level of risk faced by siblings, stressing the need for early diagnosis and management based on family history.
