Is This Just a Coincidence?

[belyro]

I'm curious to have some more people weigh in on something I heard yesterday.

My friend knows a guy who became diabetic (Type 1) a number of years ago. The odd thing is, he and 2 other guys who were both in the same university class (sounds like it was a pretty small class) all were diagnosed with Type 1 within a short period of time (I believe it was all within a number of months of one another).

I've had diabetes since I was 3, so I haven't studied diabetes onset much, but is this purely a coincidence? Three young men in the same class all Type 1 within a short amount of time seems very odd.

Thoughts?

[Scratch]

I'm curious to have some more people weigh in on something I heard yesterday.

My friend knows a guy who became diabetic (Type 1) a number of years ago. The odd thing is, he and 2 other guys who were both in the same university class (sounds like it was a pretty small class) all were diagnosed with Type 1 within a short period of time (I believe it was all within a number of months of one another).

I've had diabetes since I was 3, so I haven't studied diabetes onset much, but is this purely a coincidence? Three young men in the same class all Type 1 within a short amount of time seems very odd.

Thoughts?
Yes and no.

The most reasonable hypothesis about the development of Type 1 diabetes is that it's an autoimmune response in the wake of a virus. The immune system's development of immunity to a certain kind of virus results in it mistakenly attacking the beta cells of the pancreas, and the result is type 1 diabetes.

So you end up with 3 guys in a small class who all become Type 1's within a short time of one another. It is reasonable to conjecture that they all caught the same virus and had similar autoimmune responses.

[Funnygrl]

I'd say coincidence.

[JediSkipdogg]

Myth busted? Plausable? Or comfirmed?

I'd say plausable since we really have no idea what 100% causes diabetes. We know the "enemy" cells that attack the good cells, but we don't know how they get in the body yet.

[belyro]

Myth busted? Plausable? Or comfirmed?

I'd say plausable since we really have no idea what 100% causes diabetes. We know the "enemy" cells that attack the good cells, but we don't know how they get in the body yet.

I like the "plausible" conclusion. Thanks Jamie/Adam. ;)

[JediSkipdogg]

I like the "plausible" conclusion. Thanks Jamie/Adam. ;)

Mythbusters on Discovery Channel. But you probably don't get that up there.

[ladytaz]

hmmmm weird to say the least.

Mythbusters on Discovery Channel. But you probably don't get that up there.

My son LOVES that show!

[belyro]

Mythbusters on Discovery Channel. But you probably don't get that up there.

Of course I get Mythbusters! Why do you think I called you Jamie/Adam?

[JediSkipdogg]

Of course I get Mythbusters! Why do you think I called you Jamie/Adam?

Little slow today, lol. Maybe we could have mythbusters test this theory of air transmitted diabetes virus. Wait, no explosions or fire involved, so they won't test it. LOL

[belyro]

Little slow today, lol. Maybe we could have mythbusters test this theory of air transmitted diabetes virus. Wait, no explosions or fire involved, so they won't test it. LOL

When I wrote it, I thought, "If it's a coincidence that he wrote it like that and he doesn't actually know about Mythbusters, this is going to flop."

Well.....it flopped anyway. :tongue:

[spike]

My then-neighbor, age 31, a Viet Nam vet, was dx'd the same time I was. I was also 31 and a VN vet. I applied for VA benefits and was turned down because I'm not T2. aaargh! The government is so screwy! They cover vets with T2 but not T1.

Also, at one time in my court, 5 of us were diabetics. After one died and the other moved, there are 3 of us.

[notme]

I also say "plausible". I was diagnosed in 1986. On my street, in a two year period(a very small block) there were one case of type one diabetes (me) two cases of bone cancer, one case of ovarian cancer (she died) one miscarraige, one case of lupus, one case of emphalicil (sp)(baby born with intestines outside of the body) one placenta previa (maybe just a coincedence) and one baby born at eight months dead (unexplained). Many people got sick after they moved away with cancer or some immune deficiancy disorder. There is a huge study now going on in the area because of the high rate of cancer. I thank god it was me that became ill and not one of my children, but I will always worry.

[belyro]

I also say "plausible". I was diagnosed in 1986. On my street, in a two year period(a very small block) there were one case of type one diabetes (me) two cases of bone cancer, one case of ovarian cancer (she died) one miscarraige, one case of lupus, one case of emphalicil (sp)(baby born with intestines outside of the body) one placenta previa (maybe just a coincedence) and one baby born at eight months dead (unexplained). Many people got sick after they moved away with cancer or some immune deficiancy disorder. There is a huge study now going on in the area because of the high rate of cancer. I thank god it was me that became ill and not one of my children, but I will always worry.

Oh my goodness! That's so scary! Do poeple still live there?
Do you still live there?

[notme]

Oh heck no!!! We moved out three years later. However, there are people still living there and they decided to do the study after a large organization of people in the area made major complaints. The study is still under way. It was a very big argricuture area and there were lots of chemicals in the ground. I would not be surprised if it turned out to be a ground water situation.

[parrotletzoo]

studies I've read and I can't for the life of me find a link to one (i'llpost when i find it) indicate taht type 1 tends to be diagnosed most commonly around ages 5. 10 and 20, probably due to stress/hormonal changes/growth spurts and like others have indicated increased contact with viral/environmental triggers at those ages.

[CycloneKitty]

I would say Freaky ... but then everything is freaky to me. It's freaky that in all my school years - i was the only one in the whole entire school of around 700 students to have Diabetes, and I went to numerous school. Its freaky that Im the only one in the family with diabetes .... cause Im special :) Its freaky that I only meet people with Diabetes when I go to Diabetes events - never in my circle of friends.

[Gangrel]

You know what, i have the same thing. I only have one friend that is a type one diabetic out of everyone that i know! The only other type one that i remember meeting by chance and not at some event was my last first aid instructor!

We both commented that it was very cool to meet someone who "knows the deal". I gave her this website, but I don't think she ever checked it out, and she bailed on me for the diabetes expo we had and i never have heard from her again...... Maybe i forgot to shower one day!

[Penny]

I havee been trying to tell my neighbors for years something is going on here. There are 5 people who live on my block, with serious Thyroid problems, maybe more as it is a long street and I do not know everyone. We live very close to a park that has a creek running through it. This creek goes through the property where a major producer of film operates, I will not say the name, but it starts with K. One of the favorite activities of neighborhood kids (and me, before I got too sick to do it) is to go "creek walking". I just think it is a strange coincidence, as there are other major illnesses in such a short area.

[Howard]

I've always believed diabetes to be caused by a dodgy gene that is "activated" so to speak by a viral infection so I say that it's a plausible theory.

I remember 2 or 3 months before I was diagnosed (I was 13 at the time), I went on a school trip for a few days to France. The first couple of days were fine, I enjoyed all the activities and everything. Then one day when we went to look around one of the towns in France, I had this sudden feeling of nausea and continued to feel sick and lethargic for the rest of the trip. I really didn't enjoy the coach ride home.. I had diarrhea and needless to say I spent most of the time in the coach toilet! The annoying thing was that all of my school friends enjoyed the whole of the trip without feeling ill at all, and I even ate all the same food as them so I don't think it could've been that.

Anyway a month later in October a friend of mine from school was diagnosed with diabetes (although she didn't go on the trip to france). It was also about October that I started to get the first symptoms of diabetes. I've always wondered now if I caught a virus from France that triggered my diabetes and unfortunately for my friend..passed it on to her aswell.