Diabetes is the disease someone in our family always gets until it happens to you. The fact of the matter is that diabetes is now essentially a worldwide epidemic and it is getting worse. The incidence of diabetes has a direct correlation with our standard of living. The more overweight the population is the more diabetes occurs. America’s population is generally overweight; with over 3 in 5 adults are classified as overweight, and 1 in 5 as downright obese. Children and adolescents are not doing much better with a trend showing a continued rise in the amount of children who are overweight and a decrease in the age at which these problems begin.
Type I diabetes is usually seen early in life and has remained relatively stable. Type I diabetes is seen first in young people who have had their own immune system attack and destroy the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. Antibodies from the immune system are out of control and destroy these beta cells in the pancreas. Recently, researchers reported in Science Daily (March 6, 2009) a study that linked enteroviruses as possible causative agent in Type I diabetes with a study showing that 40% of damaged cells had an enterovirus infection that reduced their insulin function. Type I diabetics have very unique and complex insulin needs, and are generally best followed in consultation with endocrinology specialists.
