Dec. 17, 2014 -- More children in the U.S. are getting type 1 diabetes, according to new research.
A recent study by Jean Lawrence, ScD, MPH, found a large rise in the disease among non-Hispanic white children.
From 2002 to 2009, the number of kids with type 1 diabetes rose from 24 per 100,000 to 27 per 100,000. The most pronounced increase was in children 5 to 9 years old, says Lawrence. She's a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Southern California's Department of Research & Evaluation.
Other studies have shown numbers rising among other racial groups in the U.S., and in children in Europe as well, she says.
Although Lawrence’s study didn’t examine the causes for the increase, most researchers agree there is no single cause.
"Like most other diseases, it's a combination of genes and our environment," says Jessica Dunne, PhD. She's the director and program lead for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Prevention Program.
In type 1 diabetes, the body makes no or little insulin, the hormone crucial to allow sugar to get into cells for energy. It's most often diagnosed in childhood.
Long-term complications are similar to those with type 2 diabetes. They can include heart disease and damage to nerves, the kidneys, eyes, and feet, among other problems.
Genes and Type 1 Diabetes
For kids, in general, the chance of getting type 1 by age 18 is about 1 in 300. Experts know that someone with an immediate relative, such as a parent, sibling, son, or daughter, with type 1 diabetes is at 10 to 20 times' greater risk of getting it themselves.
Genes alone don’t cause type 1, but some genes can raise a person’s risk of getting it, Dunne says.
Lawrence says these genetic “triggers” may push a susceptible person into developing diabetes.
But nobody has identified the triggers. “If we could … that would be a key target for prevention," she says.
Environment's Role
Geography has long been suspected as a factor in type 1 diabetes, with higher rates found among those who live farthest from the equator. Finland and Sardinia have the most diagnoses of the disease.
source : More children in the U.S. are getting type 1 diabetes, especially kids ages 5 to 9, according to new research.
