Type 1 diabetes risk rises with the age of the father and mother and yet there is no warning for the public

1: Diabet Med. 2005 Feb;22(2):200-6. Links
Parental age at delivery, birth order, birth weight and gestational age are associated with the risk of childhood Type 1 diabetes: a UK regional retrospective cohort study.Cardwell CR, Carson DJ, Patterson CC.
Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, UK. c.cardwell@qub.ac.uk

AIMS: To investigate perinatal risk factors for childhood Type 1 diabetes in a UK population cohort. METHODS: Perinatal data have been routinely recorded in Northern Ireland for all births in the period 1971-86 (n = 447 663). Diabetes status at the age of 15 years was ascertained in this cohort by identifying 991 children from 1079 registered with Type 1 diabetes diagnosed from 1971 to 2001 and date of birth in the period 1971-86. RESULTS: Increased Type 1 diabetes risk was associated with higher maternal age, paternal age, birth weight and birth weight for gestational and lower gestational age. After adjustment for maternal age, the association between Type 1 diabetes and paternal age remained significant [relative risk (RR) = 1.52 (1.10, 2.09) comparing father's age 35 years or more to less than 25 years] but not vice versa [RR = 1.11 (0.80, 1.54) comparing mother's age 35 years or more to less than 25 years]. Increased birth order was associated with a significant decrease in the risk of Type 1 diabetes [adjusted RR = 0.75 (0.62, 0.90) comparing birth order three or more with firstborn], but this only became apparent when adjustment was made for maternal age. Furthermore this association with birth order was significant only for diabetes diagnosed under the age of 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis demonstrates, for the first time in a UK regional cohort setting, that maternal age and paternal age at delivery, birth order, birth weight and gestational age are significantly associated with Type 1 diabetes risk.

PMID: 15660739 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


1: Eur J Pediatr. 1999 May;158(5):362-6. Links
Risk factors for type I diabetes mellitus in children in Austria.Rami B, Schneider U, Imhof A, Waldhör T, Schober E.
University Children's Hospital Vienna, Austria.

The aim of this study was to investigate environmental risk factors in the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus in a population-based case-control study. Parents of all patients with manifestation of type 1 diabetes between 1989 and 1994 in Vienna were asked to complete a questionnaire (n = 114). Control children (n = 495), matched for age and sex, were randomly recruited from all schools in Vienna. Fathers of diabetic children were significantly older at the time their children were born than fathers of control children (P = 0.015). Children with diabetes were more likely to be second- or third-born children (P<0.05) and fewer went to kindergarten than the control group children (P = 0.007). No significant difference in duration of gestation, percentage of delivery by caesarean section, birth weight or length was found. Neonatal jaundice was more often observed in the patient group (P = 0.038). Breast feeding was reported by 82.7% of mothers of diabetic children and by 81% of mothers of control children, and the duration of breast feeding was longer in patients than in controls (n.s.). CONCLUSION: In our study, the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus was associated with higher paternal age and neonatal jaundice. No correlation could be found with dietary intake of cow's milk products in early infancy, vaccination and other environmental factors.