Hello! I am looking for some info on something called Type 2 Polyglandular Autoimmune Syndrome. I have been a Type 1 diabetic for 22 years and I also have hypothyroidism.
I took my 5 year old son for his Kindergarten physical today and his blood sugar was a little elevated, and their was protein in his urine. I'm not too worried yet because I haven't seen any obvious symptoms. I am going to monitor him and take him back for more screenings next week. However, this got me "Googling" the statistics of the chances of a child who has a Type 1 mother also having Type 1, I had always been told it was between 4-8%.
I found this info on the ADA website:
Type 1 Diabetes: Your Child's Risk
In general, 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.
In addition to having diabetes, these people also have thyroid disease and a poorly working adrenal gland. Some also have other immune system disorders. If you have this syndrome, your child's risk of
getting the syndrome including type 1 diabetes is 1 in 2.
This last paragraph led to more googling "Polyglandular Autoimmune Syndrome" where I found there are four types, with Type 2 being the most common... here is the description:
"Type II PAS occurs in adults. Women are three times more likely to develop the adrenal gland insufficiency. It includes the thyroid (hypothyroidism) and pancreas (Type I diabetes). Pernicious anemia and rheumatoid arthritis are also detected with Type II."
This confused me because I am wondering because I have hypothyroidism and Type 1, if I have this PAS thing.... but I have never even heard a doctor use this term. Of course it's the weekend, so I will not bother the doc with this question till Monday. :) But I would really like to know if my son's stats are 1 in 25 or 1 in 2! Kind of a big difference. I realize it won't change anything, but I am just an anal Mom who likes to arm herself with knowledge.
If anyone is familiar with this and has some answers for me I'd appreciate it! Thanks!
Well… I don’t know for sure, but I do know… that though the general public only about 6% has Hypothyroidism… in Diabetics, about 60% has hypothyroidism… and any time there is either or another autoimmune condition in the family, there is 50+% chance that there is the other one in an immediate family member in the nucleus (either Diabetes, or Hypothyroidism.)
While I, myself, have Type 2… in a recent study, Harvard researchers discovered that Type 2 is also an immune disease that affects metabolism, among other things… I also have Hypothyroidism, and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (both autoimmune diseases) and suspected issues with with my Pituitary gland, possibly adrenals… My dad also had Type 2, and my brother as well developed it (despite being an athlete)… so… It’s very possible.
Perhaps in some people, but like my grandpa was just diagnosed at 80 years old with Type 2. I think in his case, his pancreas is just old and can’t do it’s job anymore. Maybe one day there will be different classifications for different type of Type 2.
???
Oh, definitely… I did not mean to imply it was the same for every single case… There is definitely a spectrum of Diabetes types that is a lot more complicated than just Type 1, and Type 2… and we all lie somewhere along that spectrum… However, something just doesn’t get tired and fail, without a complicated system of other things failing too, behind it… to cause an organ to become “tired.” It would be quite normal, I think, to not have the strongest immune system at 80 years old.
This is a question for your endro…this can be detected by DNA profile as well as specific blood testing. Likely your GP is not authorized to order the test by most insurance providers. I too have hashimotos and T1 and my endro orders specific tests annually for defficiencies indicating RA , Lupis, and MS, all of which are genetic in my family - MS & Lupis on Mom’s side, T1 and RA on Dads…
Thanks for this post – this was new information for me!
I also have type 1 and hashimotos hypothyroidism, but it seems from the information that I read that type 2 PAS also includes adrenal gland deficiencies (Addison’s disease). This is surprising to me that 1 in 7 people with type 1 have Type 2 PAS. I wonder if Addison’s disease is often undiagnosed??
I just had a lot of blood work done at a new endo and my kidney function came back shady (whole 'nother subject) but I will be doing further testing and asking my endo for details on this subject at my next appt in August. For now, my son is doing well and no Type 1 symptoms! He was not spilling protein in his urine test this morning and glucose levels were normal. Hooray!
I was just flipping thru here looking for info on Addison’s with T1 diabetes and came across your post. I have PAS type 2. I was diagnosed with t1 diabetes in 1971, Hypothyroid in 1994, Pernicious Anemia in 2007 and Addison’s in 2009. It took my doctors almost 2 years to figure out I had Addison’s and by that time I was pretty close to death. Addison’s caused me to lose almost 50lbs, I was down to almost 90lbs. My face became severely hyperpigmented. My blood pressure was so low I was frequently passing out. I couldn’t stand to shower, brush my teeth, etc. I had severe salt and sugar cravings. I was vomiting every time I ate. I no longer felt my lows and was getting glucagon injections several times a week. My skin and hair were so thin my hair was falling out. I was a mess. The problem with Addison’s is that it is rare and many doctors don’t know what it is. Often times a person will die and it will not be discovered until after the death. There are only 2 hormones a person cannot live without. Insulin and Cortisol. I make neither. I hope this helps someone out. I certainly could have used this info last year.
I also have Type II PolyGlandular Autoimmune Syndrome. My name is Jill. I was diagnosed with Graves Disease in 1999. 10 years later I was diagnosed with Addison's Disease (last December). My 3-year-old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in October of this year. She also has antibodies to her thyroid and to Gluten. Her identical twin sister and myself were both tested through Trial Net in November and were both found to have one antibody that contributes to type 1 diabetes. They are doing further testing to look for more antibodies in my daughter and myself. It's been a crazy roller coaster ride this year and we're hoping for good news with the test on my self and my other 3-year old daughter.
