Background: Type 2 diabetes is a hereditary disease but the inheritance and responsible genes have not been clearly clarified yet. According to the most studies, diabetes is one of the most common causes of mortality and morbidity in populations. Diabetes occurs in 30% of first degree family members of diabetic patients, But most people are not aware of their disease.
Methods: We studied first degree relatives of type 2 diabetes and screened them for diabetes, IFG and IGT.174 families(1556 people) of Tabriz residents were studied, among them 1232 persons grater than 30 years were alive and FBS and OGTT were done in this group .
Results: According to this study, 1232 persons were alive and 324 persons had died and DM was found in 343 (27.9%) and 82 (25.3%) of them respectively. We found 179 (14.5%) persons with IFG and 89 (7.2%) with IGT.The percent of diabetes in offspring and siblings were 32.9% and 22.1% respectively. The majority of patients had 41 – 50 years old. Risk of diabetes among offspring who had diabetes in both parents was more than the ones who had diabetic father or mother. In this study, women with diabetes were more than men (32.4% vs. 22.2% respectively). The prevalence of Diabetes type 2 in first-degree relatives was more frequent between sister and brother (41.95%), followed by that between father and son (10.9%).
Conclusion: Prevalence of diabetes in most populations is 8 – 10 %. If diabetes occurs in someone, risk of development of diabetes will increase to 30% in their family members. Therefore, screening must be done in all family members of diabetic patients to recognize the problem and to prevent from diabetes complication.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Impaired Fasting Glucose, Impaired Glucose Tolerance, Familial diabetes.

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