Type 1 Diabetes causeDo you know the type 1 diabetes cause? Well, if you do you could set a lot of people free as scientists are baffled. They do not know what the exactly cause of diabetes type 1 is. What is known is that in diabetes type 1 the pancreas, that lovely little organ behind the stomach which is responsible for insulin production, stopped working or we could say that it has resigned. It ceases production of the vital insulin hormone or if it does produce insulin it produces it in miniscule quantities. Why would the pancreas stop producing insulin or produce it in very small quantities? Before we go any further I want to explain the main difference between type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In diabetes mellitus type 1 the pancreas just stops functioning all together; the reasons why it stopped working will be discussed below. While in diabetes type 2 the pancreas still works but the cells of the body are resistant to the insulin hormone produced. Why this happen will be discussed in a later article about the causes of diabetes type 2. Some explanations offered by scientist to explain type 1 diabetes cause or the causes of diabetes type 1 are that it may be as a result of: • Autoimmune response – you were born with an immune system which is responsible to protect the body from harmful bacteria which attacks the body on a daily basis. It generally does a good job of identifying and destroying such bacterium. However in the case of this type of diabetes the bacteria camouflages itself and the immune system cannot distinguish between the beta cells of the pancreas and the bacteria decided to destroy both. This phenomenon is thought to be as a result of giving cow’s milk to infants. • Heredity – heredity and genetics play a role as some people seem to be predisposed to the disease. This predisposition may be triggered by some environmental factors. What does the American diabetes association has to say about heredity and type 1 diabetes mellitus? Here it goes: If you are a man with type 1 diabetes, the odds of your child getting diabetes are 1 in 17. If you are a woman with type 1 diabetes and your child was born before you were 25, your child's risk is 1 in 25; if your child was born after you turned 25, your child's risk is 1 in 100. Your child's risk is doubled if you developed diabetes before age 11. If both you and your partner have type 1 diabetes, the risk is between 1 in 10 and 1 in 4. There is an exception to these numbers. About 1 in every 7 people with type 1 diabetes has a condition called type 2 polyglandular autoimmune syndrome. • Abnormality- the pancreas may be underdeveloped at birth or may even be born without a proper functioning pancreas (this is rare). There is a diabetic that I am familiar with whose daughter was born without a proper functioning pancreas. • Virus - infection with a specific virus or bacteria can destroy the pancreas and cause the onset of diabetes. On such disease that may be responsible (for the type 1 diabetes cause) is mumps. • Pancreatitis – this is the swelling or inflammation of the pancreas. Acute pancreatitis normally occurs suddenly and can be caused by excess use of alcohol. Based on research done by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases the most common cause of acute pancreatitis is the presence of gallstones—small, pebble-like substances made of hardened bile—that cause inflammation in the pancreas as they pass through the common bile duct. Chronic, heavy alcohol use is also a common type 1 diabetes cause. • Exposure to food-borne chemical toxins • Drinking of cow’s milk as an infant (before three months old). Can this be proven – based on an article on times online: A report in the New England Journal of Medicine, said that the culprit for the cause type 1 diabetes mellitus may be as a result of cows’ milk in a bizarre case of mistaken identity. Doctors found that diabetics had a much higher than normal level of antibodies to a protein in cows’ milk called bovine serum albumin. The immune system target this protein as an invader to be destroyed but by coincidence a section of this milk protein is almost identical to a protein on the surface of insulin-producing cells. When the body destroys the milk protein it also destroys the insulin producing cells by mistake. What we know for certain is that diabetes type 1 is definitely not caused by poor diet. Eating lots of cake and ice cream will probably make you fat and put you at risk of developing type two diabetes. When diagnosed or if diagnosed the different types of foods will have different effect on the body. If you effects are known and may be calculated it will effectively determines the amount of insulin that would be necessary to maintain proper glucose levels. It is important that you know all about the
Type1 diabetes symptoms
so that you may prevent the complications of diabetes if you suffer from the symptoms unknowingly.
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