My words to the endo were--How did this happen--He said that I must carry a type1 gene and her dad too..........I now wonder if everyone is told the same or different things ?
Mostly likely a virus of some sort triggered it. She is 9 so we will never really know when or why.
More or less that is what we were told.
[quote user="Jessica "]
Mostly likely a virus of some sort triggered it. She is 9 so we will never really know when or why.
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pretty much the same for me when i was diganosed when i was 6. i had the flu really bad when i was 4 or 5(i think my mom said 5...), and had to be hospitalized, diagnosed just after my 6th birthday...they figure it was triggered when i had the flu as thats when mom remembers me starting to act weird
[quote user="Batts"]
[quote user="Jessica "]
Mostly likely a virus of some sort triggered it. She is 9 so we will never really know when or why.
[/quote]
pretty much the same for me when i was diganosed when i was 6. i had the flu really bad when i was 4 or 5(i think my mom said 5...), and had to be hospitalized, diagnosed just after my 6th birthday...they figure it was triggered when i had the flu as thats when mom remembers me starting to act weird
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Yeah my daughter was fine in August got sick a few times one school started and went down hill from October until we found out last week. We were told tho that her ear infection at 2 could have been the time she got it and it just laid dormant until she got sick again in August.
Conflicting info. Told he had a genetic predisposition to it, but that there is usually a trigger - illness or high stress event in the months preceding. (We cannot recall anything like that for my son in the months leading up to his dx).
Asked for family history - none except T2. We were also told our daughter had only a 5-10% higher chance than the regular population of getting it. We could get tested but I am OK with not knowing - it won't change when or if she gets it. (Though my son wants to know when his sister will get a pink pump. LOL.)
I honestly don't think they really know why people get autoimmune diseases. Why does the body go into overdrive and start attacking itself? Why do 50% of identical twins have only 1 twin with T1? They have the same genes!
There's a large genetic predisposition for T1 on my wife's side of the family, but I've read that a large number of diagnoses occur in families with no history of the disease. There are autoimmune triggers that have been identified that can trigger the disease, but there is still so much that is unknown and still requiring further research.
it's very complicated and not fully understood where the disease is actually coming from case by case. but it has always interested me, and as a nursing student as i understand it it's not actually these illnesses and infection prior to diagnosis triggering it, but it's the other way around. your immune system is essentially attacking itself causing you to be more susceptible to different types of ailments and infections.
also it's not just a "diabetic gene" that you inherit but a lot of times a child with diabetes is likely to have a parent with an autoimmune disease. i myself don't have any family history of diabetes whatsoever, on either my father or my mothers side. but my mom does suffer from multiple sclerosis, which is an autoimmune disease that could have caused mine.
i don't think there are any definite causes to any diseases that falls in the category autoimmune, all we know now is that something undefined causes ones body to turn on itself.
hopefully over time we learn more about what causes the onset so it can be cured one day.
I have no family history, so at first they just said "there are genetic and environmental factors" but then later they said it could have possibly been from my flu shot!
[quote user="meme"]
My words to the endo were--How did this happen--He said that I must carry a type1 gene and her dad too..........I now wonder if everyone is told the same or different things ?
[/quote]
There is no history in my family of type 1, type 2 yes because of lifestyle. Now here is the weird part. The Dr.'s told me they just don't know why and they think a virus triggered mine. Oh, the weird part I was dx'ed aug./08, in ICU, DKA and 52 years old. Talk about life changing moment.LOL
When I was DX with diabetes at age 3 1/2 They told my mom & dad that I got diabetes from chicken pox that I got from my brother's But I was told my family on my mom's side they have problem's with diabetes but they don't really have diabetes...But on my Grandpa cass's side there is one cuz of mine that has diabetes but they did not kown that when they had me
My 4 yr old daughter was diagnosed 11/30/09. two weeks previous to that date, she had the flu- a rough case of it. the week she was sick she lost a lot of weight, and we noticed shortly thereafter that she was running to the bathroom alot. Thinking it was a UTI took her in to the dr a few days later and was told she had diabetes. the next day we went to our area's childrens hospital and the specialists there told us that there is a certain genetic marker that we may all have but lays dormant... however those who do have t1 , most cases the immune system usually becomes overactive after an illness... such as her flu.
My endo has said that it was likely brought on by a virus. I had mono about 2 weeks prior to my symptoms, so it seems like a decent possibility.
my mom, dad, and sister have had the genetic testing. no one has the genetic marker for t1d. there are no others in my family with t1 either. t2 never developed in my family until about 2 years ago, with my grandmother and 2 uncles (both uncles have no blood relation--they married into the family). i had been sick for quite some time, but my doctor's think it was the diabetes making me sick and not something like the stomach flu. hard to tell--it was 20 years ago, and i was a bit of a sick kid anyway. who knows, but like someone else said, finding out the origin of my diabetes doesn't change the fact i still have it.
Two possibilities that are being researched right now that i think are interesting. Important disclaimer: I heard these third hand and don't have sources to cite or a great understanding of them, so if you're interested, you'll have to do your own research.
1. a link to cows milk. There is a protein in cows milk which closely resembles some protein associated with beta cells, so the thought is the body learns how to break down cows milk, then it just takes a tiny mutation or something to start breaking down the beta cells, too. A large rise in t1 also correlates (somehow) with the introduction of formula. Also, people with european descent are less likely to be lactose intolerant and more likely to be t1, which has to do with vitamin d and sunlight.
2. a link to fish oil. This one is being studied (i think in finland?) because they have seen higher rates of diagnosis inland, and thought "well, what happens on the coast that is different from inland. I know, they eat fish!" Omega 3s have some pretty incredible effects, so it's possible that has something to do with it.
Like folks have said, who knows what caused it in each individual. I tend to think that everyone has some different trigger - no idea what mine was... - but i think the questions are fascinating.
No one in my family has T1 or T2 I am the lucky one but I remember my doc at some point telling me its genetic and that somewhere someone in my family even if it was my great great great grandmother had diabetes.
[quote user="ajax"]
1. a link to cows milk. There is a protein in cows milk which closely resembles some protein associated with beta cells, so the thought is the body learns how to break down cows milk, then it just takes a tiny mutation or something to start breaking down the beta cells, too. A large rise in t1 also correlates (somehow) with the introduction of formula. Also, people with european descent are less likely to be lactose intolerant and more likely to be t1, which has to do with vitamin d and sunlight.
[/quote]I have heard this theory several times, and I actually think this may have been a triggering factor for me. I was alergic to milk (along with cheese, eggs, and corn) as a young child, but all of those alergies seemed to go away by the time I was about seven years old. So, naturally, I began to drink regular milk instead of the soy milk I was used to. Then, it just so happens that I was diagnosed with T1 a little over a year after that. I have heard that increased consumption of cows' milk could lead to T1, and that fits my situation.
It's all just speculation, but I still can't help thinking that they may be onto something with that.
How did it happen - Honestly I guess it doesn't much matter now except the knowledge might be used to help someone in the future. We had two endo's in the hospital - the flu seemed to be the most likely thing according to them but they also mentioned stress, environment and family genes but nothing that you could look at and say _ yes that it.
There is no history in either my family or my wifes. After diagnosis you look at everyone in your family. I found out I had an uncle who died from diabetes in the 40's and after researching found out he was married to my aunt (my mom's sister) so no genetic link there. There are always degrees of stress (school work, homework, sports etc - did it cause it - who knows. My son had a treatment for acne - did that treatment used to fight the acne also attack the beta cells - again who knows. Maybe it is just like the lottery - millions and millions play but one a few get the prize. Those on this site come from diverse regions - east coast, west coast, Europe, Canada . . . no connection I can see. We have different socio-economic structures, some lived in apartments and some homes. We all have different water sources, air pollution etc. I would think that if it was enviornment someone would make that link. The disease is not confined to a certain age group - infants, teens, young adults, middle age and seniors get it - no link. Ruling out all that maybe its just luck of the draw or a virus or maybe were looking in all the wrong places.
Of all the things I heard I guess I believe it was a virus - makes as much sense as anything else and easier to explain when you have to explain to some smart person who knows everything about diabetes because they saw Wilford Brimley gain a few pounds between commericals lol.
I heard that also and thought it had logic until I talked to a parent of a T1 who was lactose intolerent. Couldn't drink dairy or have eggs and when he did he nearly died because of it. He was about 4 months old. He was diagnosed with diabetes just prior to his 12th birthday. Up until then his mom said he lived on soy milk etc.
Oh, and I have no family history of T1 that I know of. There are a few on my mom's side of the family that have developed T2 (not her), but besides that there's nothing.
[quote user="Keith"]
I heard that also and thought it had logic until I talked to a parent of a T1 who was lactose intolerent. Couldn't drink dairy or have eggs and when he did he nearly died because of it. He was about 4 months old. He was diagnosed with diabetes just prior to his 12th birthday. Up until then his mom said he lived on soy milk etc.
[/quote]Maybe it's different for each person. For some maybe a virus caused it, for others it could be milk, and for others it could be environmental. I personally don't recall being sick prior to my diagnosis, so I don't think a virus was the cause for me. It's just one of those things we may never know.