- 0 autoantibodies: Your child is currently at a lower risk for developing type 1 diabetes. This does not guarantee your child will never develop type 1 diabetes. Autoantibodies can still appear later in childhood or adolescence. If your child had an increased risk GRS, they will be offered annual autoantibody screening. If your child has only had autoantibody screening, additional autoantibody screening will be offered at age 5-6 or age 10-11. This testing will be offered once and will occur two years after their initial test. Testing will only be offered until March 1, 2029, the projected end of the study. If no antibodies are detected by age 10, the child is very unlikely to ever develop type 1 diabetes.
- 1 autoantibody: Your child’s risk for developing type 1 diabetes in their lifetime is higher than children with 0 autoantibodies. This does not guarantee that your child will or will not develop type 1 diabetes. Additional autoantibodies can still appear in childhood or adolescence. Your child will be offered repeat autoantibody screening every year.
- 2 or more autoantibodies: Your child has early-stage type 1 diabetes. Their immune system has started attacking insulin-producing cells. Most children with two or more autoantibodies will develop type 1 diabetes within 10 years, and nearly all will develop it at some point in their lifetime. This means that the lifetime risk of developing clinical type 1 diabetes is very high – close to 100%. At this stage, your child’s blood sugar levels are still within the normal range, and insulin treatment is not yet necessary. Your child will not show symptoms at this stage.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) cannot be prevented, and nothing a parent or child does causes it. It is no one’s fault. It develops for reasons outside anyone’s control. Knowing your child’s risk early can help avoid serious illness, like diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and allow for earlier treatment when needed. Research is working to develop treatments to prevent or delay T1D.