Clinical Corner
What is MODY (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young)?
Published: Jul. 15, 2025
Updated: Jul. 16, 2025
5 min read
The content in this article should not be taken as medical advice. Please consult with your healthcare provider regarding your individual health needs.
Conversations about diabetes typically focus on type 1 or type 2 (T1D/T2D) because these forms of the condition are more common, with 90-95% of US cases being type 2 and 5-10% being type 1.1 Yet, another rarer form of diabetes is on the rise Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY).
MODY diabetes is monogenic (caused by the mutation of a single gene), has several subtypes, usually develops before the age of 40, and tends to run in families because the gene mutation is passed from one parent to the child. People diagnosed with MODY often have a family history of diabetes across multiple generations.
This form of diabetes impairs the body’s ability to produce insulin, which leads to higher levels of glucose in the body. Over time, high glucose can increase risks of other health complications and impact the heart, brain, kidneys, eyes, nerves, and blood vessels.
Like other forms of diabetes, MODY’s symptoms can include2:
- Higher glucose levels
- Frequent urination
- More thirst than usual
- Dehydration
- Blurry vision
- Recurrent skin infections
- Recurrent yeast infections
Proper MODY diagnoses leads to better treatments
Healthcare experts estimate MODY represents only about 5% of diabetes diagnoses. Occasionally, people with MODY are first diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, and later find out their diagnosis was incorrect.
For example, T1D is an autoimmune condition that can be identified through screening for type 1 antibodies. If someone’s symptoms present as type 1 but there are no antibodies and treatments aren’t working as expected, that could mean they need to be screened for MODY using genetic testing.
In the case of a T2D diagnosis, a patient might appear very insulin resistant and medications don’t seem to work, which could mean they need to be tested for type 1 antibodies and/or MODY.
According to the American Diabetes Association, correct diagnosis of monogenic forms of diabetes like MODY is critical3; if someone is incorrectly diagnosed with T1D or T2D, it could lead to inferior-even potentially harmful-treatment plans and delays in diagnosing other family members.
MODY diabetes treatment2
Some MODY subtypes require adjustments to diet and exercise but no medication. Others require adjustments to diet and exercise but later require medication. And still others may require treatment with insulin or sulfonylureas (a type of medication that tells your pancreas when to release insulin).
Medications commonly used to treat MODY are often not used in first-line therapy for T1D or T2D. For people diagnosed with certain forms of MODY, this means they might have healthier glucose management on older medications.
Regardless of what MODY subtype someone is diagnosed with, the addition of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system like Dexcom G7 can be a helpful part of their management plan.
Dexcom G7 and MODY
Regardless of what type of diabetes you’ve been diagnosed with, monitoring your glucose is important. You never want to be in the dark about your glucose levels or rely on symptoms to gauge your condition and whether you need to treat it. Knowing your glucose levels and how food, exercise, sleeping patterns, stress, and more impact your glucose is crucial to your overall health.
Dexcom G7 makes diabetes management easier by showing you your glucose and where it’s headed in real time on your smartphone, smart watch, or a dedicated receiver. It also shows you how food, physical activity and other life factors, such as stress, impact your glucose. Dexcom G7 also includes convenient features to help you spend more time in a healthy glucose range, including high and low glucose alerts and trend data you can review with your healthcare provider. If you’re living with MODY, it can show you how you’re responding to different medications so you and your doctor can find the best ones for you.
Communication with both family and healthcare providers is key. If you have a family history of diabetes and struggle to reach your glucose goals despite your best e fforts with medication management and changes to food and be activity, consider asking your healthcare provider i screening or MODY would be an appropriate choice for you. Anyone who tests positive should alert their family since it is a genetic form of diabetes and they could be at risk. Additionally, your family members should talk to their healthcare providers about your diagnosis of MODY to determine i they should also be screened.
Get started on Dexcom G7
If you are living with diabetes and not using CGM, talk to your doctor about Dexcom G7. We can help you get started with a free benefits check. Click the button below to send us some basic information.
*Compatible smart devices sold separately: Dexcom.com/compatibility.
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d) A report card: Diabetes in the United States infographic. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/communication-resources/diabetes-statistics.html. 2 Stefan S. Fajans, Graeme I. Bell; MODY: History, genetics pathophysiology, and clinical decision making. Diabetes Care 1 August 2011; 34 (8): 1878-1884. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc25-S002
BRIEF SAFETY STATEMENT: Failure to use the Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring System and its components according to the instructions for use provided with your device and available at https://www.dexcom.com/safety-information and to properly consider all indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, and cautions in those instructions for use may result in you missing a severe hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) or hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) occurrence and/or making a treatment decision that may result in injury. If your glucose alerts and readings from the Dexcom CGM do not match symptoms, use a blood glucose meter to make diabetes treatment decisions. Seek medical advice and attention when appropriate, including for any medical emergency.