Perhaps some type 1 IS caused by a virus

[grace girl]

Friday I had to take my middle son to the doctor...really bad cold. I've used this pediatrician since they were born, and I trust him totally. It's been a while since I've had my kids in; they don't get sick very often and now that they are mostly teenagers the need just doesn't arise that often.
Anyway, while I was there he asked me if we needed to update any info on the boys charts. It occurred to me that I hadn't told him about my dx with type 1 6 years ago...just never came up.
So I told him and he asked me if anyone else in my family had ever been dx'ed with type 1. I told him no. He said, "Then you most likely got it from a virus. And your boys are no more at risk than you were."
This is the second doctor that has told me this.
It really makes me think. I know there are families where you can plainly see it in various members, then there are people like me who are the one and only. If it really is a virus, then are some families more succeptable to it, or is it something different going on with them than those where there is no family history.
And I wonder if they will ever unravel it all.

[markr]

I agree with you. Now all we have to do is find the cure.:top:

[SueM]

My Take on it is, if you have the faulty gene a virus will trigger the diabetes.
I'm a 4th generation diabetic, I developed diabetes after a dose of the flu.
Many people I know with diabetes developed it after a virus. Some have a family history some don't.

A poll would be interesting to see what the trigger was :)

[gobbly2100]

I completely agree, my family does not have diabetes, it is only me other than my grandad having type 2 due to being overweight.

I was on a very poor diet and was always looking unwell and I got a virus followed by the diabetes so I would not even question that it was a virus that caused it.

I think your immune system simply attacks your pancreas by total mistake and anyone could get it.

That is my opinion of it anyway.

I have been raising money for research and I continue to aise that money until there is a cure.

If anyone is in the UK and interested in supporting me raise money for diabetes then please contact me.

[cheryl]

They found mono or that epstien bar virus in my system when I was diagnoised with the diabetes.....There is no family history of anyone having type 1 at all.....A doctor at our church in NY, said the same thing to my Mom, that it was very likely that this is what caused this and this was back in 1991, and what not....The only thing that strikes me as odd, I wonder if those who believe or had developed type 1 diabetes after a virus, had their pancreas completely shut down, or do they still produce a minimal amount of insulin, because I do.....but I am just wondering about that honestly....And I wonder if someone would be more receptive to a islet transplant, if they did infact get diabetes after a virus, I wonder about all that....cause sometimes I am ready to sign up and try anything....to rid of all this LOL...

Cheryl

[Alice]

I agree with the "virus" theory...except I turn it around and look at the root problem...the immune system.

Our immune systems are dealing with many viruses, most of which never exhibit symptoms...so, it can be caused by a virus you are not aware.

The immune system gets "overactive" and kills off the insulin-producing cells.

[grace girl]

I hadn't been sick with anything for at least 6 years when I was dx'ed.
However, (and I have no idea if this actually holds any water) the doctor that originally dx'ed me with type 1 told me that he thought I got it from having to take a second MMR when I was 17 years old, and he pointed out a long list of things that have happened to me health-wise between the ages of 17 and 32 (when I was dx'ed) and said that he thought it was just a long, slow progression until it finally kicked over to the point of my having actual physical symptoms of D.

[JediSkipdogg]

So what virus then did me and my bro happen to come in contact with? And not at the same time, 1 year apart exactly? Thats why I see the virus theory as bogus.

[cheryl]

So what virus then did me and my bro happen to come in contact with? And not at the same time, 1 year apart exactly? Thats why I see the virus theory as bogus.

I think that what is trying to be stated, is that maybe type 1 can be contracted by some from a virus, maybe some from genetics, and immune systems and what not. I have even thought allergies.....I think there is more then one way to get type 1 diabetes, maybe for you or your brother it wasn't a virus. I for one was not stating that everyone contracts or gets type 1 from viruses, but I think some people do.

It is a theory though.....

Cheryl

[Alice]

I don't think it's any "one" virus. It is the way the immune system overreacts...does it's job a little too well. I think any virus could be the trigger...and their are millions (?) of viruses, most we never see/feel symtoms.

[Ailsa]

I believe I got it from drinking milk, which was compulsory in schools when I grew up.
I was also the only person in my extended family who had it.
However 26 yrs later my younger brother was diagnosed T1 also.
I get my son tested for anti bodies every few years

(I have done a previous post on the milk theory. If you are interested you can look back through my old posts)

[cheryl]

I believe I got it from drinking milk, which was compulsory in schools when I grew up.
I was also the only person in my extended family who had it.
However 26 yrs later my younger brother was diagnosed T1 also.
I get my son tested for anti bodies every few years

(I have done a previous post on the milk theory. If you are interested you can look back through my old posts)

you know i have thought that about myself also.....cause both my brothers are alergic to milk and dairy or what have you, and I never showed the signs, I am the only one out of the three of us, that had ever used milk....So I always used it, or should I say drank it....my brothers were on soy formula and soy milk....

I have type 1 they don't....So as a precautionary measure all my kids were on either breast milk or soy formula, and I try to give them more soy then regular milk....i don't know it's my other theory....And my other great theory is the more I stay away from dairy product the more weight I have lost, and way less insulin I have taken....hmm....weird......I could have a negative response to all this but, I don't drink no more milk or anything but mozzerella cheese is the hardest thing to give up LOL...

Cheryl

[Luvpugs]

I was diagnosed with Type 1 at the age of 12 and I think I only felt like I was dying because my sugar was 1088. However, I was told that I probably got it from a virus also. I have absolutely no family history of diabetes. Not even Type 2. I have been told not to worry about my daughter getting it. I really do think it is a faulty gene issue with the immune system. My gall bladder was all diseased and had to be taken out - not due to stones just all shriveled up and sickly and I was told it could be due to my immune system attacking it. Then I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease which is also a disease caused by the immune system attacking itself. Just recently, I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy after going through extensive sleep studies and apparently there is a possibility that this too could be caused by a faulty immune system/gene thing. All I can say is, would somebody please tell my body to quit attacking itself, cause there is not much left to attack.

[grace girl]

So what virus then did me and my bro happen to come in contact with? And not at the same time, 1 year apart exactly? Thats why I see the virus theory as bogus.

That's the thing I was questioning in my original post. Is there perhaps two different things going on here...one within familys where there are multiple cases and something different when it's an isolated case?
Mind you, this is all speculation....

[JediSkipdogg]

That's the thing I was questioning in my original post. Is there perhaps two different things going on here...one within familys where there are multiple cases and something different when it's an isolated case?
Mind you, this is all speculation....

The problem with the family one is we have traced and tested back in my family line as far as possible and the ONLY two cases are me and my brother. That kinda in a sense throws the genetic speculation out the window unless it can skip 3 generations.

I truely don't think they will ever figure it out unless there is more pre-diagnosis testing taken place that can track the changes people develop as they become diabetic.

[LowkonXC]

Was fine when I went to bed 3.5 years ago. Woke up with Guillain Barre' Syndrome and Diabeties T1. No family history of either. The specialists think a virus caused the GBS so I would assume the same is true for the D. I had rarely been ill my whole life.

[REDLAN]

The hypothesis that type 1 is caused by a virus has been around for a long time - when I was diagnosed in 1982 that's what I was told, and in particular they were interested in whether I had measles.

The latest culprit is Coxsackie virus. Polio is a member of the coxsackie virus family, although interest is focussed on coxsackie B. Many type 1's (around 60%+) have antibodies to GAD on diagnosis. Coxsackie viral protein has a similar structure to GAD - similar enough (so the hypothesis goes) for the body to mount an autoimmune response in susceptible individuals.

Coxsackie is an enterovirus. It causes upset stomachs, sometimes vomiting, and diarrhoea. It can also cause myocarditis (infection of the heart), and upper respiratory tract infections. In a large number of people it causes no symptoms.

This is a nice uncomplicated theory, however the cause of type 1 is rather complicated, and while some studies show a positive correlation with antibodies to coxsackie virus - a review of 26 case control studies in 2004, concluded

The results of these studies are inconsistent and do not provide convincing evidence for or against an association between Coxsackie B virus infection and Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Better designed studies using effective assays are needed to resolve this important issue.

Pubmed study link below...

Coxsackie B virus serology and Type 1 diabetes mel...[Diabet Med. 2004] - PubMed Result (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15154932?ordinalpos=18&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVDocSum)

[ant hill]

Redlan, How old was that study? as I have a later study in March 2005 (http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-forecast/mar2005/research.jsp) and it talks about birth and the virus gets transmitted there to unsuspecting juvenile diabetics.

[REDLAN]

The one I picked out, was the most recent one, that looked at the results of several studies - all case controlled - it was performed in 2004, and would have used previously published studies.

As long as a study is performed properly, it does not really matter when it was performed - it's results will still be valid. What matters is the totality of evidence.

the view of the study team was that the hypothesis of type 1 causation by the coxsackie virus was unproven - the studies were not well enough designed nor had enough statistical power to prove the hypothesis one way or another.

I read the article you linked to...

type 1 being caused by viral infection during pregnancy is another possible hypothesis - coxsackie virus is thought to be implicated in this method as well - the hypothesis comes largely from epidemiological studies which show increased risk of type 1 following viral infections during pregnancy. The review that I cited, can not prove/disprove this particular hypothesis as it was only concerned with coxsackie infection status, not when it occured.

the diabetes forecast article doesn't report any actual evidence - it's merely an outline for a prospective study, which hasn't been performed yet. Without knowing the actual study design, it's not clear what the control group will be - and with only 150 individuals who will be whittled down to those whose mothers did not have diabetes, it's not likely to have much statistical power - there are 2 potential flaws with the study

1) what about the diabetes status of the father?

2) just because your mother does not have diabetes does not rule out a genetic factor, nor make a genetic factor less likely.

[deansreef]

scary-drinking milk can cause diabetes? virus that cuases diabetes- what is next?