The Causes and Symtoms of IDDM

The first question that is always asked when there is a new diagnosis of Type I or IDDM (insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) is almost always 'why?' or 'what caused it?' Most people, particularly parents of newly diagnosed children spend an extraordinary amount of mental and emotional energy trying to figure out what caused it. For the parents it becomes a nagging guilt as they wonder what it was that they did or didn't do to cause such a disease to target their child. The simple answer to these questions is that while doctors, scientist, and researchers understand 'how' juvenile diabetes develop, there are few clear cut answers as to 'why.'

The debate as to why one person or even one family member develops type I diabetes while another person doesn't, has been going on for decades, possibly centuries. Genetics, viruses, and a few particular drugs and chemicals are known to be the cause of some cases of juvenile diabetes. Other things such as cow's milk and vaccines have been thought to be culprits, but there has been no concrete, scientific evidence that they indeed contribute to a person developing type I.

Often there is a family history of the disease, yet more and more new cases are being seen where there is no family history at all. Race is known to play a part, as in the United States there seems to be a higher incidence rate within the African American and Hispanic communities. The diabetes-in-america website at http://diabetes-in-america.s-3.com has an excellent, downloadable file titled 'Prevalence and Incidence of Insulin-Dependent Diabetes' which maps and tracks data collected from established, sporadic, worldwide IDDM registries.

But what about those that have no family history, nor have a genetic or racial background that would predispose them for developing type I? Leading back to the 'why,' the theories abound. Logic would dictate that environmental and/or cultural factors play a role but with so many pieces to put together into the puzzle of each individual diagnosis, it's unlikely that there is one particular culprit to identify to protect ourselves against.

What IS known about IDDM is that in most cases, barring a disease or injured pancreas, antibodies are formed in the body that attack and kill the insulin producing islet cells. Because the body's own immune system has triggered the attack for the destruction of these cells, type I diabetes is known as an 'autoimmune' disease.

Once the immune system begins to destroy the islet cells, insulin production by the pancreas decreases or in most cases, ceases entirely, and symptoms begin to appear. The symptoms again are:

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