Originally published October 3 2005
Evidence shows increasing incidences of children with type 1 diabetes
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A report in the Medical Journal of Australia determined that environmental factors -- not genetic factors -- are responsible for the 2.8 percent yearly increase in juvenile diabetes.
Previously known as juvenile diabetes, type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas produces too little insulin to regulate blood sugar levels appropriately.
Sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells.
Without sufficient insulin, glucose builds up in the blood and despite high levels the body is unable to use this glucose for energy.
This leads to increased hunger and because of the high levels of sugar in the blood it causes the patient to urinate more, which then results in excessive thirst.
Typically within 5 to 10 years after diagnosis, the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas are destroyed resulting in no more insulin production.
The incidence of type 2 diabetes is also significantly rising in many Western countries and parallels the considerable increase in childhood obesity.
It is theorized that this epidemic in obesity is also a factor in the increase of type 1 diabetes.
Although the exact cause of type 1 diabetes is not known, it is widely believed that type 1 diabetes develops as a result of environmental triggers in genetically predisposed individuals.
The September 2005 issue of The Medical Journal of Australia examined the incidence of type 1 diabetes in New South Wales [NSW] from 1990 to 2002.
They note that this increasing trend is more likely due to "environmental factors" rather than genetics because of the rapid increase over a relatively short period of time.
"The rising incidence of childhood diabetes in NSW, in keeping with international data, suggests new or increasing exposure to certain triggers in at-risk populations.
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