The odds for one child to develop type 1 diabetes if his father suffers from the disease they are double relative to whether his mother has the disease, according to major research to be presented at this year’s European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) annual meeting in September in Madrid.

The analysis involved 11,475 people who were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes between the ages of 0 and 88. The results show that they were 1.8 times more likely to have a father with the condition than a mother. This was true for people diagnosed with diabetes both in childhood and as adults.

“Overall, our findings suggest that the relative protection associated with having a mother with type 1 diabetes versus a father with the disease is a long-term effect that extends into adulthood,” said Laurie Allen, from the research team on of Diabetes at the UK’s Cardiff University.

Also, according to the researchers, the study suggests that exposure to type 1 diabetes in utero provides long-term protection against the condition in children of affected mothers compared to those of affected fathers. The timing of a parent’s diagnosis is important, as having a mother with type 1 diabetes appears to protect the child from the condition only if the mother has the condition during pregnancy.

“Understanding why having a mother with type 1 diabetes compared to a father offers relative protection against the condition could help us develop new ways to prevent type 1 diabetes, such as treatments that mimic some of the protective elements from mothers.” , adds Ms. Allen.