[citation needed] While the goals of diabetes management are the same no matter what type, there are two primary advantages of confirming a diagnosis of MODY.
[citation needed] The recognised forms of MODY are all due to ineffective insulin production or release by pancreatic beta cells.
In some cases, there are significant differences in the activity of the mutant gene product that contribute to variations in the clinical features of the diabetes (such as degree of insulin deficiency or age of onset).
MODY is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion, and most patients therefore have other members of the family with diabetes; penetrance differs between the types (from 40% to 90%).
The principal treatment goals for people with MODY — keeping the blood sugars as close to normal as possible ("good glycemic control"), while minimizing other vascular risk factors — are the same for all known forms of diabetes.
[citation needed] The tools for management are similar for all forms of diabetes: blood testing, changes in diet, physical exercise, oral hypoglycemic agents, and insulin injections.
Some people with MODY may require insulin injections to achieve the same glycemic control that another person may attain with careful eating or an oral medication.
MODY was originally applied to any child or young adult who had persistent, asymptomatic hyperglycemia without progression to diabetic ketosis or ketoacidosis.
It is now used as a synonym for dominantly inherited, monogenic defects of insulin secretion occurring at any age, and no longer includes any forms of type 2 diabetes.