Breakthrough Study Links Childhood Diabetes To A Common Virus

Italian researchers have made an exciting discovery suggesting a common virus may lead to Type 1 diabetes in children. Studying 112 diabetic children aged two to six, they found evidence of enterovirus pancreatic infection in 83% of them, compared to just 7% in healthy children.

Enterovirus is the second-most common virus in North America next to the common cold. It’s a small virus that enters the body through the gastrointestinal tract. Infections occur mostly during the summer and fall. Most infected people have no disease symptoms at all, but some 10 to 15 million Americans develop either mild upper respiratory cold-like symptoms, flu-like symptoms with fever and muscle aches, or a rash each year.

There are two different kinds of diabetes: Type 1, which can be life threatening and usually requires lifelong insulin injections, and Type 2, which is often controlled by diet and exercise. Type 1 used to be called “juvenile diabetes” as it is far more common in children, although they can also get Type 2 diabetes. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body destroys its own insulin-producing cells. Insulin is a hormone that is necessary to regulate blood sugar levels. Type 2 is the more common form of the disease, in which either the body does not produce enough insulin, or the cells ignore it.

Scientists still do not know the exact cause of Type 1 diabetes, but the new research suggests that the body may respond to a viral infection of the pancreas by attacking the infected organ. This raises the possibility of future vaccines to protect children from developing the disease, and perhaps to prevent Type 2 diabetes in adults.

About 151,000 Americans below the age of 20 years have Type 1 diabetes. About 13,000 more are diagnosed each year, and that number has been rising since 1994. Approximately 440,000 children worldwide suffer from the disease.

The idea of a viral cause for diabetes has been debated for decades. Genetics are known to play a role in the disease, but not all children with Type 1 diabetes have a family history of the disease, and studies of twins indicate that genetics alone don’t determine who will develop it. When an identical twin is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, there is only a 40% chance the other twin will develop it.

It’s only recently that tests sensitive enough to detect an enterovirus in the pancreas have been developed. Sadly, this breakthrough was largely a combination of the sensitive new tests and what one of the researchers, Dr. Noel Morgan of the Peninsula Medical School in England, called “the unique availability of such a large number of pancreas from young people who had died of Type 1 diabetes soon after becoming ill.”

The researchers went on to study adults, and found signs of enterovirus infection in the insulin-producing cells of 40% of adults with Type 2 diabetes. They are guessing that the enterovirus may interfere with insulin production in pancreatic cells in adults, rather than destroying the cells as it does in children.

By: Lynn Woods

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Lynn Woods is a writer with a long-standing interest in health and wellness. She feels strongly that everyone should have affordable access to diabetes medication. She recommends Big Mountain Drugs as a reliable Canadian mail order pharmacy from which to buy insulin and buy insulin syringes.