I know we all have different hair color BUT…
I’ve been hesitating to post this because deep down I feel like there is no validity to this, but I must ask…
OK, I noticed this a long time before I ever knew about Tudiabetes. Most of you are going to think I’m crazy but, I noticed a lot of type 1 diabetics I met have red hair. I had REALLY red hair when I was a child. It has turned brown recently. But now that I have been on Tudiabetes it does seem like a larger percentage of red heads have type 1. Am I crazy? Do you have red hair? Has anyone ever heard about this?
It just seems like the percentage of red heads in the population (without diabetes) is smaller than the percentage of red heads (with type 1) with in the diabetes community.
I’ve met a lot of type1 diabetics with red hair but I only know 1 person without diabetes that has red hair.
Your thoughts?
i’ve heard alot of Hispanics get diabetes, but i only know white people that have it…
yeah the class I took said people from India and from Pacific islands get it a lot. But out of the white people that get type1, I would say a lot are red heads.
I had red hair (at least when I was a kid). Now it’s just mostly grey. Ah, the hazards of growing old.
There seems to be a genetic relationship between Northern European ancestry/genetics, and red hair. Not to be racist, but you don’t see many italians or greek or chinese people with red hair? Note that there is also a known genetic relationship between Northern European ancestry and susceptiblity to T1 diabetes.
Where I grew up in the Midwest, it was pretty much a given that you had German or Scandanivian or maybe Eastern European ancestors. That was a long time ago now but the melting pot wasn’t , and still isn’t, equally poured across the U.S.
I am a red head (mine has turned browner and grey) and I am a Type I.
Interesting theory.
Tim-
You said, “a known genetic relationship between Northern European ancestry and susceptibility to Type1 diabetes.”
I never heard that before. Where did you hear that from? I’m part Irish and Scottish, but from my looks I got all the red head genes (and freckles).
Does anyone else notice this?
I have brown hair now, but when i was younger it was red. Not terribly red, but it was red.
Interesting theory… i don’t know many diabetics or red heads at all though, so i can’t help much 
If the development of type 1 is related to vitamin D, which It thought I read somewhere, it makes sense that it would be more prevalent in Northern Europe, where the people are more likely to have red hair.
http://www.physorg.com/news131866757.html
So the red hair would not be a cause of greater susceptibility to diabetes, but definitely would correlate.
Nope I’m a blonde with Type 1 and my daughter is a brunette with Type 1 neither of us ever had red hair. Interesting theory though.
I’ve met quite a few Latino redheads in my life, too. Real redheads… but they weren’t Diabetic. lol
Not a redhead.
Yes, I am (or should I say was - now a mixture of grey & Clairol!). I am also from Irish descent and have several other diabetics of both types in my family.
A lot of T1s also have Celiac’s, and more Celiac’s come from Northern Ireland than anywhere else so you do have to wonder about the connection!
interesting link. thanks Frances.
wow I never knew that about celiac’s being common to north Ireland. And I didnt know that a lot of T1’s have celiac. weird huh?
I know T1 is not specific to hair color. Meaning that some T1’s have blonde or dark hair and NOT all red heads are prone to getting T1, but am I the only one that noticed a lot (more than usual number) of red heads on this site and in the diabetes community have T1?
Yeah I think so. I never paid that much attention. I do know anout the Northern Europe and Vitamin D defenancy though.
Not to mention, EsTuDiabetes has a ton of Type 1’s… and many of them not redheads. lol
Never had red hair but Moms side ancestry is Irish. Brother has two kids with very red hair but none have Diabetes.
Nope, but I descend from and get my family name from a red headed Scot-Irishman. I have a red headed niece as well. I suppose that if red hair can pop up after 5 generations, diabetes can pop up after 4.
I don’t have red hair but I’m married to a redhead and he does not have diabetes (though both his dad and paternal grandmother developed type 2 later in life, a whole other story). However, my paternal grandmother was Finnish, and my paternal grandfather had English/Irish/Scottish heritage, so maybe there’s something to the Northern European ancestry thing. I did read an article in the NYT some time ago online that discussed a connection to Northern European genes and diabetes. I’ll try to find it and post it.
Very interesting stuff about vitaminD.
So does anyone know of any research on Northern Europeans and the relation to type1? Anything similar to what I heard years ago about people from India and Pacific Islands.