The relevant role of family history in predicting type 2 diabetes occurrence

On June 6, 2019, the Polish Archives of Internal Medicine published an interesting article by Szczerbiński et al,1 entitled “Efficacy of family history, genetic risk score, and physical activity in assessing the prevalence of type 2 diabetes.” This editorial is a commentary on this paper, intending to highlight, one more time, the importance of a positive family history (FH+) of type 2 diabetes (T2D) for estimating diabetes occurrence in the adult population as well as the importance of physical activity (PA) for maintaining optimal body composition and a low incidence rate of chronic disease.2 Since 2011, my research group has provided periodical pieces of evidence (2011, 2013, and 2014) about the influence of FH+ on the basal metabolic rate of women,3 on body composition and fasting glucose levels of healthy people,2 on body composition and basal glycemia in sedentary people,4 and on anaerobic performance of young male elite athletes.5