Serious life events in childhood can triple risk of developing type 1 diabetes

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-04/d-sle040715.php

Public Release: 9-Apr-2015
Diabetologia

New research from Sweden published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) shows that serious life events (SLEs) in childhood, such as death or illness in the family, divorce/separation, a new child or adult in the family, and conflicts in the family, can triple the risk of subsequently developing type 1 diabetes (T1D). The research is by Maria Nygren, Professor Johnny Ludvigsson, Dr Anneli Frostell and colleagues, all from Linköping University, Sweden.

The causes of T1D are unknown, but both genetic and environmental factors are involved. It is usually preceded by the body's own immune system attacking and killing the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. As well as genetic predisposition, several environmental factors such as viral infection, dietary habits in infancy, birthweight and early weight gain, as well as chronic stress, have been proposed as risk factors. Since the incidence of T1D among young children is increasing in most countries in the world, environmental factors are now being examined even more seriously.

•••••

The authors found that childhood experience of a serious life event was associated with a higher risk of future diagnosis of T1D, with children experiencing such events almost three times more likely to develop T1D than those who had not, even after adjustment for confounding factors (genetic predisposition to T1D, age at entry into the study, genetic predisposition for type 2 diabetes, size for gestational age, the parents' education level and whether the mother worked at least 50% of full time hours before the child's birth).

In relation to other environmental factors discussed as risk factors, the increase in risk of T1D caused by SLEs found in this study is comparable to that of factors such as birthweight, infant nutrition factors and enterovirus infection. However, when comparing single risk factors, genetic predisposition is still much more important. In this study sample, there was a 12-times increase in risk of developing T1D for a child from a family in which another first degree member has T1D - about four times higher than the increase in risk associated with an SLE.

•••••

The authors conclude: "Consistent with several previous retrospective studies, this first prospective study concludes that the experience of a serious life event (reasonably indicating psychological stress) during the first 14 years of life may be a risk factor for developing type 1 diabetes.

•••••


•••••



•••••



•••••