The cause of Type 1 Diabetes is unknown. This is a well known scientific fact, especially among us T1’s.
People of lesser intellectual prowess will always assume that Type 1 Diabetes is caused by an overindulgence of candy and ice cream at a young age. Please try hard not to punch these folks if they approach you with their theories.
I’m sure you’ve thought about it…so what’s your theory? What causes our immune system to go haywire? Why are there more and more Type 1’s popping up everywhere? Is it an alien virus?..the environment?..a government conspiracy?
My family and I have recently discovered that autoimmune diseases cluster in families. My mom and her sister was recently diagnosed with different autoimmune diseases and the doctors told them both that that’s why these things happened.
I was never really sick before I was diagnosed at age 8. No colds, no flu, nothing. That’s why my family, and even family friends, noticed a change in me when I started getting sick. And I’m the only one in my whole family with diabetes.
It was kind of a relief to have some sort of an answer as to why this happened. We’ve been keeping a close eye on my sisters ever since I was diagnosed, but so far so good. They’ve even been testing my cousin for it lately because she’s had several miscarriages lately and they were wondering if that was it (it wasn’t). I think that it’s a combination of different things. Family, body being too tired to keep truckin’…etc…But it’s definitely not because I ate way too much sugar one weekend.
I was diagnosed in March, just a few months after my 14th birthday. (I never heard that about the autumn months.)
The only illness I had leading up to it was strep throat, which is hardly a big deal. In fact, I think I probably got strep throat because my immune system was out of whack due to the early symptoms of diabetes.
The only other illness I had as a child was the chicken pox, and that was 4 years earlier. Not that it couldn’t have anything to do with it, but lots of children get chicken pox, and a relatively small # of those (to my knowledge) develop diabetes.
No one else in my family has T1 diabetes.
The way I understand it, diabetes can be developing in a person’s system for 7 years prior to the diagnosis. It’s not until we have only about 10% of our insulin-producing cells left that we really start to experience symptoms. So it’d be very hard to pinpoint what triggered it in the first place. I just think of myself as the “lucky” one. Think, if I didn’t have diabetes, I probably wouldn’t have found all you nice people!!
Ha - when I was younger, the secretary at my endo’s office said she believed the fact that there wasn’t a cure was the conspiracy by pharmaceutical and the other companies that produce testing and related products (pumps, etc.). She thought people spent too much money on insulin and other products for there to ever be a cure. (Just what a 14 yr old wants to hear after a recent diagnosis of a chronic medical condition.)
Did you hear that several scientists have discovered the cure for D, but each time, they get killed? There’s too much $ from pharmaceutical, pump, meter, strips manufacturers to let it happen.
Holy hellfire thats a freaky concept. (cue the X-files music)
Imagine that…but come to think of it…medical science has brought about treatment after treatment for various diseases…everything from herpes to erectile disfunction to, of course, diabetes. Naturally, these treatments bring in so much moolah every year…the doctors, the pharm companies, research and development…the list is endless.
But for us…the chronic dependents…what about us? We are left with no choice but to shell over the cash so that we can keep on living and…guess what…shell out more cash. Diabetics alone help keep physicians, endocrinologists, dietitians, ophthalmologists, podiatrists, nephrologists, cardiologists, neurologists, surgeons and pharmacists in business.
Thats a lot of co-pays people.
Now lets see…an end all be all cure to diabetes would mean a ton of lost revenue. Billions spent on research and development down the tubes. Massive layoffs would ensue. Companies that we have come to depend on over the years would suddenly become irrelevant to us.
I really don’t know if we’re at the mercy of a conspiracy. All I know is that after buying test strips and gasoline, there ain’t much going into my mutual fund
If there is a cure and we aren’t getting it simply because diabetes is profitable, then all I can do is smile, take my shot, and let karma take it’s course.
I was diagnosed in the summer, a few months after moving from Michigan (cloudy) to Texas (sunny). So I doubt it was caused by lack of sunlight! Besides, in October vitamin D stores are still pretty high. It’s as winter goes on that people become deficient. I agree with all the people who say there are multiple causes. That’s why studies about viruses, cow milk, and cereal show only small correlations.
I had mumps almost exactly a year before I was diagnosed. When I was diagnosed I was also quite stressed as I was trying to qualify for National Age Groups in swimming…
I was told that Type 1 diabetes is a case of, you are born to have it, it is just a case of when it comes. I had a huge emotional shock, and they said that was what started mine. Though they said it is more common that it is often when you get an infection or something.
I don’t know to be honest. One thing I will say is that I never used to eat sweet things as a kid. I eat more sugar now than I ever did as a child,
I recently read cows milk fed to babies of a certain age can cause T1, did not buy that.
I have also heard; stress, genetics, envoromental trigers i.e. mold or toxins, some prescripion drugs, virus, magor invasive surgury, auto imune disease and on and on. not sure they will ever be exactly sure.
I do agree with one post that the drug companies are making to much cash to be persuaded to research a cure. I find it very difficult to beleive that modern cell phones & computers do everything from music, tv, movies, internet but they cant produce a all-inclusive pump that can monitor blood sugar & inject insulin…? Apple needs to invent the Ipump!
I heard the one theory (and I think Scandanavian study) about formula/cow’s milk. Then the incidence would have been a lot higher in the 70s and 80s when I think less were breastfed. Also since there does not a shared mother’s milk program, what are adoptive mothers and adopted kids to do? I just read that 3 out of 4 new mothers are breastfeeding now. I am surprised.
I disagree that it is just speculation. What you say would be the true result of a cure. All those companies making money from producing insulin, testing supplies, and pump supplies would cease to exist if a cure were found.
Similar to the oil companies and alternative fuels. The technology is there for alternate forms of transportation but instead car companies are currently producing hybrids. Why not go straight to all electric or some other form? It is a baby step but that keeps us dependant on gasoline, although somewhat less.
Conspiracy theory? Perhaps. But plenty of anectodal evidence out there that supports it.
A quick research of “trauma diabetes” shows articles on silent trauma, head trauma, nutrition trauma and birth trauma. Thy are all connected to diabetes in those articles. Another article states that already existing diabetes can become worse due to trauma.
My doctors told me that I got type 1 diabetes because I had scarlet fever when I was young. I actually got it 3 times by the time I was 3 years old. He said that my immune system was so weak that it caused my immune system to go haywire. Then he said that the onset time is anywhere from 9-11 years to set into my system. How convenient.
wow kelsey that is interesting. wonder if it could effect someone many many years down the road. I had scarletina as a child. It is amazing what theories that come up. It actaully shows that they really have no idea what the initial cause is and that it could be many different things in many different people. I still say mine was caused by anti inflammatory drugs I was taking for over 6 years, that I was never checked during that time for any side problems that could occur from the drugs. Besides my scarletina was over 47 years ago, don’t think that they can blame that one.well over the 9-11 year period.
