[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Islet Foundation Message Forum ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Al Gordon on 08:44:42 2004/02/29
In Reply to: Re: same house - diabetes environment - 3 kids posted by Ed Timings
I wish I knew definitely the time period between the triggering immune event and the onset of clinical diabetes. I believe it is shorter in children than in adults. Considering how slowly autoimmunity takes to destroy enough islets to produce clinical symptoms, I would think it would have to be at least a year (likely much longer), even in a child. But that is NOT an expert opinion.
Nobody should feel guilty because there was something in their environment that may have triggered diabetes. It's a bit like an elderly person who suffers from osteoporosis, and who trips on a step and breaks a hip. It is not the fault of the owner of the step, but of the underlying condition that made such an otherwise innocent object so damaging.
As you can see from the chart below, the incidence of T1 diabetes in Norway is among the highest in the world, although not as high as Finland.
Al
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Islet Foundation Message Forum ] [ FAQ ]