Most people even diabetics are not aware there is another type of diabetes besides type 1 and type 2. The unawareness most likely stems from the fact that monogenic diabetes is very rare.
Both type 1 and 2 diabetes are known as polygenic this means that the likelihood of a person developing diabetes is a result of multiple genes that can be affected. With monogenic diabetes, only one gene mutation can result in diabetes.
There are two main types of monogenic diabetes. The first is PND (Permanent Neonatal (newborn) Diabetes. This form of diabetes occurs in the newborns first six months of life, the baby does not produce enough insulin leading doctors to believe and label them as type 1 diabetics. This type of diabetes is so rare only one in 500,000 have it.
This form of diabetes is also rare it is estimated that only 1 to 5% of all diagnosed diabetes cases in the world out of roughly 220 million people only 1 to 5 percent have MODY. This form of diabetes usually shows up in late adolescents and young adulthood.
Hereditary plays a large role in this type of diabetes. The hereditary line is very long and goes back generations with this type of diabetes. However, a person can have such mild diabetic symptoms that either no treatment is required or small doses of oral medication will keep the diabetes under control.
Genetic testing can usually determine if a baby will have MODY. If either the mother or father has it, the child has a 50-50 chance of developing it.
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