has Type-I DM, the chances of a brother or a sister developing DM is of the order of 5-10% (However it may increase to 30% if similar genes are inherited). A person with one parent with type-II diabetes has a 25% chance of developing Type-II diabetes during adulthood; it both parents have diabetes it increases to 50%. If a person has type-II diabetes the chances of a brother or sister developing it is of the order of 20-40%.The gene that carries the information for the manufacture of insulin has been discovered.

Overweight

Approximately 50-80% of the people with Type-II diabetes are overweight at the time of diagnosis. One of the major reasons Type-II diabetes develops is overweight. Excess weight may cause what was only a tendency towards diabetes, to develop into active diabetes. The best prevention against developing Type-II diabetes is maintaining your weight within recommended limits.

Age

Diabetes occurs primarily in middle and late life. Between birth and 20 years of age, 0.1 to 1% of children have diabetes. Between the age of 41 and 50, 0.5 to 2% of people have diabetes, while the numbers increase to 2 to 10% among people 61 years of age and older. In particular, Asian Indians (both natives in the Indian subcontinent, and those migrated to South Africa, Fiji, UK, USA etc.) appear to have a higher prevalence (genetic predisposition) of diabetes, than many white European populations. The increasing incidence of diabetes with age may be related to a general decrease in body functions that occur in all cells with aging.