Type 1 Diabetes Up 70% in Kids, Study Finds

[Northerner]

Researchers have documented a startling rise in the rate of type 1 diabetes in one city: Diagnoses in kids younger than 5 jumped by 70 percent between 1985 and 2004 in Philadelphia.

Overall, the rate of type 1 diabetes in children aged 14 and younger climbed by nearly 30 percent during that time period, according to the study.

"We have demonstrated a significant increase of type 1 diabetes over time, particularly in children under the age of 5 years old," said study author Terri Lipman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia.

"Whatever is driving the increase of type 1 diabetes in general, it appears the youngest children are the most susceptible," said Lipman.

http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20130208/type-1-diabetes-up-70-percent-in-kids-study-finds

 

[AlisonM]

It occurs to me to wonder if hygiene has an effect. Our homes and evironments (in the Western world at least) are so much cleaner now than they were at the start of the last century and kids don't come in contact with germs the way they used to. This means they don't get the chance to build up a strong immunity to infection as past generations did. So could that not mean that when something attacks, they lack the wherewithal to fight it?

 

[LeeLee]

Alison, your post got me thinking (always dangerous). I wonder if they looked at whether the children concerned live in households with pets. I ask because asthma rates are lower in families with pets, and asthma is basically the immune system over-reacting to normal stuff that it should ignore.

 

[mcdonagh47]

Researchers have documented a startling rise in the rate of type 1 diabetes in one city: Diagnoses in kids younger than 5 jumped by 70 percent between 1985 and 2004 in Philadelphia.

Overall, the rate of type 1 diabetes in children aged 14 and younger climbed by nearly 30 percent during that time period, according to the study.

"We have demonstrated a significant increase of type 1 diabetes over time, particularly in children under the age of 5 years old," said study author Terri Lipman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia.

"Whatever is driving the increase of type 1 diabetes in general, it appears the youngest children are the most susceptible," said Lipman.

http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20130208/type-1-diabetes-up-70-percent-in-kids-study-finds

Could be linked to rising childhood obesity/overweight which is increasingly being seen as a trigger for T1 in children. One Aussie study found obese 5 year olds 3 times more likely to be T1s.
The theory being that children prone to T1 were tipped over the edge by the insulin resistance linked to obesity.
Also early exposure to cows milk and the antigens it contains is mooted as a trigger for T1 in infants. If there has been s decline in breast feeding that might be implicated.
Chemicals in food and pollution levels are also suggested as triggers for T1.
Got to be lifestyle changes surely ? Human biology hasn't changed since the 1980s.