[Genetic counseling of diabetics]

Abstract

The information and counselling of diabetic patients and their families requires for the practitioner to know about some fundamental aspects of diabetes and in particular, to distinguish between the different types of diabetes with different causes, pathogenetic mechanism and modes of inheritance. Recent developments in the fields of immunogenetics have improved the understanding of type I diabetes, an auto-immune disease associated with HLA and made possible the identification of genetically susceptible individuals. The etiology of type II diabetes, by far the most frequent form, remains unknown. In the absence of genetical markers, the screening of predisposed subjects is, however, useful in order to propose preventive measures.