Interesting question. Do people exist that have lost the capability to synthesize the peptide hormone glucagon due to alpha cell loss? This condition would not be life threatening but life altering. Perhaps these are the people that tend to lows although they are otherwise healthy?
In general the autoimmune system of T1 is attacking all sorts of tissue. I mean we are all prone to experience multiple immune conditions in our life: thyroid, beta-cells, rare skin conditions etc. Why not alpha cell loss? It is just a question of probability.
Well, there are people in the general population who are chronically hypoglycemic. Possible that could be a cause, or one of the causes. Probably some research out there if one went looking.
My brother and I are both Diabetics I'm a T1 and my brother is a T2 we are both insulin dependent skinny and our parents are in their 80's and in very good helth...we are not sure either one of us will survive them. Our children's ages are between 31 and 45, none of them have diabetes. We both see the same Endocrinologist and he says we fit into a group that makes up maybe 2% of the diabetics he sees at the clinic.
It sometimes isn't just the beta cells that are attacked. That is why people with T1 can benefit from things like Symlin, which is a synthetic form of Amylin, made by another cell type in the pancreas (delta cells??).
Plus, people with T1 are more likely to develop other types of autoimmune diseases, in particular Hashimoto's hypothyroidism and celiac's disease.
Diabetes is a debilitating and costly chronic disease [1]. On an age-adjusted basis, those with diabetes are twice as
likely to die prematurely as those without the disease [1].
For the estimated 23.6 million individuals (i.e., 10.7% of
the adult population) with diabetes in the United States, the
annual direct and indirect medical costs in managing the
disease are estimated at $174 million [1]. Locally, data
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates
that over 9% of the adult population in the Brazos
Valley region has diabetes [2, 3].
here is the source.
Associations Between Health Care Factors and Self-Reported Health Status Among Individuals with Diabetes:
Results from a Community Assessment
Justin B. Dickerson • Matthew L. Smith • SangNam Ahn • Marcia G. Ory
Published online: 24 September 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
About 215,000 young people under 20 years of age have diabetes. Most of them have type 1 diabetes. As obesity rates in children continue to soar, type 2 diabetes, a disease that used to be seen primarily in adults over age 45, is becoming more common in young people. Children with diabetes and their families face unique challenges when dealing with diabetes.
National Diabetes Education Program CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention NIDDK - National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Search NDEP site
NDEP is a partnership of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 200 public and private organizations.
Diagnosed Diabetes among People Younger than 20 Years of Age, United States, 2010
About 215,000 people younger than 20 years have diabetes—type 1 or type 2. This represents 0.26 percent of all people in this age group. Estimates of undiagnosed diabetes are unavailable for this age group.
Thank you for your efforts. Your numbers are the closest to the numbers I've found. If correct, the incidence is actually.0026. My research shows that this number or, more specifically,.00249 is the incidence in the entire population - adults and children - for a total of 770,000. Almost every diabetic I meet disagrees with this number but has no research to back it up. If the .26 is correct, and there would be approximately 2 million children and adolescents in the US which would translate to an unrealistic number within a total population of 310 million. To my mind, the 1.7/1000 (CDC) makes the most sense because it reflects the incidence that I see with children in schools in my area - approximately 2/1200. However, there is a high school that reports a .01 incidence and I am absolutetly sure this number is correct. All this said, I suspect the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies are the only reliable source since they either get paid or pay for the care of those who live with Type 1 - and they aren't giving up the numbers.
well I am familiar with a HS of 1600 that had 6, but two of those were twins. Another HS I worked with 1700 in an impoverished claimed 2. The later was wrong though I have no idea were actually there and the former was abnormally high due to the twins and a growing population. I think it important to remember I went nearly 7 months in HS before i told anyone and when I did , they found out. So variance and undercover diagnosis is to be expected I suppose.
