MODY Treatment
And
Management

If there is a suspicion that a patient may have MODY then genetic testing can be used to establish a firm diagnosis. This is a single blood test that can be done on anyone, of any age and is done via DNA sequencing.

If a member of a family is found to have MODY then all family members should be screened, to establish if they too carry the mutated gene and, if so, what further action should be taken.

A person with the gene needs to make decisions about whether they wish for genetic counselling in connection with the issue of passing it on to future generations.

Immediate treatment and lifestyle changes may also help to prevent hyperglycaemia (high blood glucose) and the connected complications.

As these forms of diabetes are rare they need to have treatment plans which are structured to suit the needs of the individual patient. That is why it is so important to distinguish between the six forms of MODY.

Originally doctors thought that patients with MODY did not develop the usual diabetic complications but now they believe that in certain types of MODY these may well develop and so the following treatments are now recommended.

MODY 1, 3, and 4
As these types of MODY have the pancreas producing slowly decreasing amounts of insulin they usually respond very well to oral sulfonylurea drugs, whose job it is to whip those beta cells into producing more insulin. Being a progressive disease with increasing beta-cell failure it may eventually require more stringent measures in the form of insulin therapy, especially in types 1 & 3. I have seen figures that say the number of the latter types who get to this is around 35 - 40%.

See Type 2 Treatment for more on the oral sulfonylurea drugs.

MODY 2
Here the gene responsible for the body's recognition of high blood glucose levels is faulty. Due to the fact that it is a very mild form of the disease and is not progressive it is usually possible to treat it with diet and exercise alone.

MODY 5
This may need an assortment of different treatments due to it's effect on the different organs.

There is a currently experimental transplant procedure, where the islet cells of a healthy pancreas are placed into a non-functional pancreas, that may eventually be an option for MODY diabetics, but as stated, it is still at the experimental stage.

MODY 6
Very Rare. Only found in 2 families in the UK to date. We will add more information here as soon as we get it.


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