At Kovler we are committed to understanding monogenic diabetes

Neonatal Diabetes and Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY)

INTRODUCTION- Diabetes mellitus or diabetes refers to many different diseases that all cause high blood sugar because of a lack of insulin effect.  There are many different causes of diabetes.  The most common types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2 diabetes.  There is another type of diabetes that is often misdiagnosed as type 1 or type 2 diabetes, called monogenic diabetes.

MONOGENIC DIABETES- Monogenic diabetes is diabetes resulting from errors in a single gene.  A gene is made up of DNA and contains information to pass genetic traits from parents to their children.  If a gene contains an error, known as a mutation, it can cause a disease that can be passed from parents to their children.  Some forms of diabetes are due to mutations in genes and can occur spontaneously in an individual or can be passed down from one generation to the next.  There are different types of monogenic diabetes, including neonatal diabetes and maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY). 

NEONATAL DIABETES- Individuals who were diagnosed with diabetes prior to 12 months of age, and especially those diagnosed before 6 months of age, are likely to have monogenic neonatal diabetes rather than type 1 diabetes.  Their diabetes may be associated with complications not usually found in type 1 diabetes, including learning and developmental problems.  They may also respond to treatments other than insulin, including sulfonylureas, which are pills used to treat certain types of diabetes.  We have a registry to help diagnose and follow people with neonatal diabetes.  If you or your child or family member have diabetes that was diagnosed at or before 12 months of age (even if the diabetes was transient or temporary), please click on the link to find out more about our neonatal diabetes registry.

MATURITY ONSET DIABETES OF THE YOUNG- MODY can be caused by mutations in at least 6 different genes and each mutated gene results in a slightly different type of diabetes.  MODY can occur in childhood or adulthood and can be misdiagnosed as type 1 or type 2 diabetes.  However, there may be clues that suggest someone has MODY-type diabetes rather than type 1 or type 2 diabetes.  These include a lack of autoantibodies in a presumed diagnosis of type 1 diabetes or a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in someone who is not overweight or three or more consecutive generations of family members with a diagnosis of diabetes.  We are interested in identifying people with MODY-type diabetes and following them over time to learn more about each type of MODY.  If you or your child or family member has or may have a monogenic form of diabetes that was diagnosed after 12 months of age, please click on the link to learn more about our MODY diabetes registry.