Diabetes Overview
Almost everyone knows someone who has diabetes. An estimated 23.6 million people in the United States -- 7.8 percent of the population -- have diabetes, a serious, lifelong condition. Of those, 17.9 million have been diagnosed, and about 5.7 million people have not yet been diagnosed. Each year, about 1.6 million people aged 20 or older are diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism -- the way our bodies use digested food for growth and energy. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body. After digestion, glucose passes into the bloodstream, where it is used by cells for growth and energy. For glucose to get into cells, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach. When we eat, the pancreas automatically produces the right amount of insulin to move glucose from blood into our cells. In people with diabetes, however, the pancreas either produces little or no insulin, or the cells do not respond appropriately to the insulin that is produced. Glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel even though the blood contains large amounts of sugar. The three main types of diabetes are Type 1 Diabetes Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease results when the body's system for fighting infection (the immune system) turns against a part of the body. In diabetes, the immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and destroys them. The pancreas then produces little or no insulin. A person who has type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to live. At present, scientists do not know exactly wh Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes Often Comes With Other Autoimmune Diseases
(Reuters Health) - People with type 1 diabetes often develop other autoimmune disorders, such as thyroid and gastrointestinal diseases, and a recent study yields new information about this link. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreas and destroys its insulin-producing cells. Patients often develop other immune system diseases, too. Indeed, in the current study, 27 percent of patients had at least one other autoimmune disorder. But the new study also held some surprises about how early and late in life these added health problems might surface, said lead author Dr. Jing Hughes of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “The pattern that emerged was striking: autoimmune diseases begin early in childhood, where nearly 20 percent of those under age 6 already have additional diseases other than type 1 diabetes,” Hughes said by email. “Another surprise finding was that, while we had expected that autoimmune diseases may peak at a certain time of life, we found instead that the autoimmune burden continues to increase as patients age, to the extent that nearly 50 percent of those over age 65 have accumulated one or more additional autoimmune disease,” Hughes added. The findings are drawn from data on nearly 26,000 adults and children being treated for type 1 diabetes at 80 endocrinology practices in the U.S. between 2010 and 2016. Of those with other autoimmune disorders in addition to diabetes, 20 percent had one additional problem and 5 percent had at least two additional diseases, researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Participants with one or more additional autoimmune disorders were more likely to be older, female and white, the study found. They also tended to have been diagnosed with type 1 d Continue reading >>
- Are Obesity-Related Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes Autoimmune Diseases?
- Powerful new cancer drugs are saving lives, but can also ignite diabetes or other autoimmune conditions
- Relative contribution of type 1 and type 2 diabetes loci to the genetic etiology of adult-onset, non-insulin-requiring autoimmune diabetes
Is Type 2 Diabetes An Autoimmune Disease?
Is Type 2 Diabetes an Autoimmune Disease? Postdoctoral fellow Xavier Revelo in the lab Researchers in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology recently discovered an immune mechanism that links obesity with insulin resistance, a condition that raises the risk of heart disease and often leads to type 2 diabetes. The results, published last month by the journal Cell Reports , add to growing evidence that type 2 diabetes has an autoimmune component (in which the immune system attacks parts of healthy cells). The lead author on the study was Xavier Revelo, a postdoctoral fellow based at University Health Network in the lab of Professor Daniel Winer . Revelo spoke with Faculty of Medicine writer Jim Oldfield about his research and what it means for the understanding and treatment of insulin resistance and diabetes. We investigated the role of a mechanism that releases extracellular traps, which are structures composed of nucleic acids that immune cells use to prevent infection. We found that in obese mice, an excess release of nucleic-acid material promotes inflammation in visceral adipose tissue and the liver. That leads to insulin resistance and the buildup of glucose in the blood, which precedes the development of type 2 diabetes. We describe the different players that take part in nucleic acid-targeting pathways and show that blocking those pathways can prevent metabolic disease in our mouse model of obesity. Is type 2 diabetes an autoimmune disease? Well, right now there isn't enough evidence to include or dismiss type 2 diabetes as a classic autoimmune disease. However, this study and others have shown that obesity-related insulin resistance has several hallmarks that are typical of autoimmune diseases. For example, we found that diet-induced obesity led Continue reading >>
Are Both Types Of Diabetes An Autoimmune Disease?
Learn about a host of diabetes-related topics such as how many Americans suffer from this disease to how to easily adjust to a new diet after diagnoses. This section will provide you with the information you need to make informed dietary decisions regarding diabetes. Are Both Types of Diabetes an Autoimmune Disease? What exactly causes insulin to become compromised? While diabetes is mostly attributed to an unhealthy weight and lifestyle choices, it may just be related to or considered an autoimmune disease. Diabetes is an umbrella term to describe the phenomenon in which the body is unable to utilize glucose from carb sources, mostly related to the absence or resistance of insulin. Insulin can be thought of as a key holder to the cells, allowing glucose to exit the bloodstream and enter into cells for energy use. Without insulin or the "key," glucose (the body's primary source of energy) starts to build up in the blood, hence having "high blood glucose" or "high blood sugar." But what exactly causes insulin to become compromised? While diabetes is mostly attributed to an unhealthy weight and lifestyle choices, it may just be related to or considered an autoimmune disease. Well, partly. Diabetes is further broken down into two varying types, also known as a type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, a condition in which the body's own immune system destroys normally healthy cells. So in the case of type 1 diabetes, cells responsible for producing insulin (also known as beta cells from the pancreas) are destroyed, subsequently negotiating the ability for the cells to utilize glucose. Due to the complete loss of insulin produced from beta cells, insulin therapy via injection or infusion pumps are required along with careful, close attention and Continue reading >>
Is Type 2 Diabetes An Autoimmune Disease?
Type 2 diabetes is in the process of being redefined as an autoimmune disease rather than just a metabolic disorder, said an author of a new study published in Nature Medicine this week, the findings of which may lead to new diabetes treatments that target the immune system instead of trying to control blood sugar. As part of the study the researchers showed that an antibody called anti-CD20, which targets and eliminates mature B cells in the immune system, stopped diabetes type 2 developing in lab mice prone to develop the disease, and restored their blood sugar level to normal. Anti-CD20, available in the US under the trade names Rituxan and MabThera, is already approved as a treatment for some autoimmune diseases and blood cancers in humans, but more research is needed to see if it will work against diabetes in humans. The researchers believe that insulin resistance, the hallmark of type 2 diabetes (unlike type 1 diabetes where it is the insulin-producing cells that are destroyed), is the result of B cells and other immune cells attacking the body's own tissues. Co-first author Daniel Winer, now an endocrine pathologist at the University Health Network of the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, started working on the study as a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, USA. He told the press that: "We are in the process of redefining one of the most common diseases in America as an autoimmune disease, rather than a purely metabolic disease." "This work will change the way people think about obesity, and will likely impact medicine for years to come as physicians begin to switch their focus to immune-modulating treatments for type-2 diabetes," he added. The discovery brings type 2 diabetes, until now considered to be more of a Continue reading >>
Are Obesity-related Insulin Resistance And Type 2 Diabetes Autoimmune Diseases?
Obesity and associated insulin resistance predispose individuals to develop chronic metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Although these disorders affect a significant proportion of the global population, the underlying mechanisms of disease remain poorly understood. The discovery of elevated tumor necrosis factor-α in adipose tissue as an inducer of obesity-associated insulin resistance marked a new era of understanding that a subclinical inflammatory process underlies the insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction that precedes type 2 diabetes. Advances in the field identified components of both the innate and adaptive immune response as key players in regulating such inflammatory processes. As antigen specificity is a hallmark of an adaptive immune response, its role in modulating the chronic inflammation that accompanies obesity and type 2 diabetes begs the question of whether insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes can have autoimmune components. In this Perspective, we summarize current data that pertain to the activation and perpetuation of adaptive immune responses during obesity and discuss key missing links and potential mechanisms for obesity-related insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes to be considered as potential autoimmune diseases. Traditional autoimmune diseases involve a wide spectrum of clinical pathology and include diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes. A disease is considered autoimmune if its pathology is dictated by a self-antigen–specific adaptive immune response. Immunologists have adapted Koch’s postulates, originally conceived to establish a causative link between microbes and infectious diseases, to define k Continue reading >>
- Are Obesity-Related Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes Autoimmune Diseases?
- Relative contribution of type 1 and type 2 diabetes loci to the genetic etiology of adult-onset, non-insulin-requiring autoimmune diabetes
- NZ case study; A citizen scientist controls autoimmune diabetes without insulin, with a low carb diet, a glucose meter, and metformin.
What Causes Autoimmune Diabetes?
Autoimmune diabetes is influenced by genetics. What starts the autoimmune destruction is unknown, but it may be due to environmental factors. You may want to learn more about how type 1a diabetes develops. We know type 1a diabetes is caused by an autoimmune process in the body that mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing cells, or beta cells and occurs in genetically predisposed individuals. What starts the autoimmune destruction is unknown, but it may be due to environmental factors. In this section, you can learn more about: What is the Immune system? An overview of the different cells and organs in the immune system and how the immune system works Autoimmunity and diabetes: Current ideas about how the immune systems destroys insulin producing cells Continue reading >>
I've Been Diagnosed With Lada — Latent Autoimmune Diabetes In Adults. What's The Difference Between It And Other Forms Of Diabetes?
Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is a slow progressing form of autoimmune diabetes. Like the autoimmune disease type 1 diabetes, LADA occurs because your pancreas stops producing adequate insulin, most likely from some "insult" that slowly damages the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. But unlike type 1 diabetes, with LADA, you often won't need insulin for several months up to years after you've been diagnosed. Many researchers believe LADA, sometimes called type 1.5 diabetes, is a subtype of type 1 diabetes. Other researchers believe diabetes occurs on a continuum, with LADA falling between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. People who have LADA are usually over age 30. Because they're older when symptoms develop than is typical for someone with type 1 diabetes and because initially their pancreases still produce some insulin, people with LADA are often misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes. If you've been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and you're lean and physically active or you've recently lost weight without effort, talk with your doctor about whether your current treatment is still the best one for you. At first, LADA can be managed by controlling your blood sugar with diet, weight reduction if appropriate, exercise and, possibly, oral medications. But as your body gradually loses its ability to produce insulin, insulin shots will eventually be needed. More research is needed before the best way to treat LADA is established. Talk with your doctor about the best LADA treatment options for you. As with any type of diabetes, you'll need close follow-up to minimize progression of your diabetes and potential complications. Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus—an Autoimmune Disease?
Inflammation-induced inhibition of the insulin signalling pathway can lead to insulin resistance and contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with a chronic but subclinical inflammatory process that impairs insulin action in most tissues and could also hamper pancreatic β-cell function. The involvement of monocytic cells and the profiles of the chemokines and cytokines induced by this inflammation suggest an innate immune response. However, emerging data indicate that elements of the adaptive immune system could also be involved. As activation of an adaptive response requires antigen specificity, some researchers have hypothesized that T2DM evolves from an innate immune response to an autoimmune condition. In this Perspectives article, we present the arguments for and against this hypothesis and discuss which mechanisms could be involved in a putative switch from innate immunity to autoimmunity. Danaei, G. et al. National, regional, and global trends in fasting plasma glucose and diabetes prevalence since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 370 country-years and 2.7 million participants. Lancet 378, 31–40 (2011). Yang, H. et al. Obesity increases the production of proinflammatory mediators from adipose tissue T cells and compromises TCR repertoire diversity: implications for systemic inflammation and insulin resistance. J. Immunol. 185, 1836–1845 (2010). The authors' research is supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Brazil), the Communauté Française de Belgique—Actions de Recherche Concertées, and the European Union projects Naimit and BetaBat, in the Framework Programme 7 of the European Community. The au Continue reading >>
Are T2d And Obesity-related Ir Autoimmune Diseases?
Obesity and associated insulin resistance predispose individuals to develop chronic metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Although these disorders affect a significant proportion of the global population, the underlying mechanisms of disease remain poorly understood. The discovery of elevated tumor necrosis factor-α in adipose tissue as an inducer of obesity-associated insulin resistance marked a new era of understanding that a subclinical inflammatory process underlies the insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction that precedes type 2 diabetes. Advances in the field identified components of both the innate and adaptive immune response as key players in regulating such inflammatory processes. As antigen specificity is a hallmark of an adaptive immune response, its role in modulating the chronic inflammation that accompanies obesity and type 2 diabetes begs the question of whether insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes can have autoimmune components. In this Perspective, we summarize current data that pertain to the activation and perpetuation of adaptive immune responses during obesity and discuss key missing links and potential mechanisms for obesity-related insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes to be considered as potential autoimmune diseases. Traditional autoimmune diseases involve a wide spectrum of clinical pathology and include diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, Sjögren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes. A disease is considered autoimmune if its pathology is dictated by a self-antigen–specific adaptive immune response. Immunologists have adapted Koch's postulates, originally conceived to establish a causative link between microbes and infectious diseases, to define key Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes With Other Autoimmune Diseases
Type 1 Diabetes With Other Autoimmune Diseases Editors Note: This content has been verified byMarina Basina, MD, a Clinical Associate Professor at Stanford University. Shes a clinical endocrinologist and researcher with a focus on diabetes management and diabetes technology. Dr. Basina is an active member of multiple medical advisory boards and community diabetes organizations, and she is on the Beyond Type 1 Science Advisory Council. People with Type 1 diabetes , an autoimmune disease, are more likely to have a co-occurring autoimmune disorder. An autoimmune disease means that your immune system sees your bodys own tissue as foreign invaders and attacks itself. For example, if you have Type 1, your body mistakenly attacks the insulin-producing (beta) cells in your body. The reason that co-occurring autoimmune disorders are so common isnt exactly known, although we do know that genetics play a significant role. Because we know that having Type 1 puts you at a higher risk of developing other autoimmune diseases, its important to be aware of what the signs and symptoms are. The following are warning signs that are common for all autoimmune diseases, including Type 1: These symptoms are non-specific and dont necessarily indicate another autoimmune disease. However, you should see your doctor if you are exhibiting them. Although the exact reason is unknown, there are a few autoimmune diseases that tend to co-occur with Type 1 diabetes that are listed below. 10% of the population with Type 1 diabetes also have celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease in which suffers are unable to eat gluten because it causes their bodys immune system to attack its own small intestine. If someone with celiac is undiagnosed and continues to eat gluten on a regular basis, the s Continue reading >>
- Are Obesity-Related Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes Autoimmune Diseases?
- Powerful new cancer drugs are saving lives, but can also ignite diabetes or other autoimmune conditions
- Relative contribution of type 1 and type 2 diabetes loci to the genetic etiology of adult-onset, non-insulin-requiring autoimmune diabetes
Other Diseases That Are More Common In People With Type 1 Diabetes
Other Diseases That Are More Common in People With Type 1 Diabetes KidsHealth / For Parents / Other Diseases That Are More Common in People With Type 1 Diabetes Kids and teens with type 1 diabetes have a greater risk for other health problems, many of which also are autoimmune disorders. The diabeteshealth care team will watch kids for signs of these problems. But parents also should know what to look for so that they can alert doctors and get treatment, if necessary. In autoimmune disorders, the immune system attacks the body's healthy tissues as though they were foreign invaders. A severe attack can affect how that body part works. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The pancreas can't make insulin because the immune system attacks it and destroys the cells that produce insulin. Kids and teens with type 1 diabetes are at risk for other autoimmune problems, but these aren't actually caused by the diabetes. Doctors still aren't exactly sure why autoimmune diseases happen. But genetics probably play an important role because relatives of people with type 1 diabetes are more likely to have autoimmune diseases. Most kids with type 1 diabetes never need treatment for any other autoimmune disorder. But those who do might develop: These disorders can develop before a child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes or months or years after the diabetes diagnosis. Kids and teens with type 1 diabetes are more likely to get disorders affecting the thyroid. The thyroid, which is part of the endocrine system , makes hormones that help control metabolism and growth. These hormones play a role in bone development, puberty, and many other body functions. Thyroid disease is fairly common in people with type 1 diabetes, affecting 15% to 20% of them. In thyroid disease, the thyroid gland Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes: Is It An Autoimmune Disease?
For decades, doctors and researchers have believed type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder. This type of disorder occurs when your body’s natural chemical processes don’t work properly. New research suggests type 2 diabetes may actually be an autoimmune disease. If that’s the case, new treatments and preventive measures may be developed to treat this condition. Currently, there isn’t enough evidence to fully support this idea. For now, doctors will continue to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes with diet, lifestyle changes, medications, and injected insulin. Read on to learn more about the research that’s being done and the implications it may have on the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes has historically been viewed as a different type of disease from type 1 diabetes, despite their similar name. Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body becomes resistant to insulin or can’t produce enough insulin. Insulin is a hormone that moves glucose from your blood to your cells. Your cells convert glucose to energy. Without insulin, your cells can’t use glucose, and symptoms of diabetes can occur. These symptoms may include fatigue, increased hunger, increased thirst, and blurred vision. Type 1 diabetes, sometimes called juvenile diabetes because it’s often diagnosed in children and teens, is an autoimmune disease. In people with type 1 diabetes, the immune system mistakenly attacks the healthy tissues of the body and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. The damage from these attacks prevents the pancreas from supplying insulin to the body. Without an adequate supply of insulin, cells can’t get the energy they need. Blood sugar levels rise, leading to symptoms such as frequent urination, increased thirst, and irritability. E Continue reading >>
What Is An Autoimmune Disease?
Tweet Autoimmune disease refers to illness or disorder that occurs when healthy tissue (cells) get destroyed by the body's own immune system. The term autoimmune disease is one that many people with diabetes - in particular, those with type 1 diabetes - will have come across or be familiar with. In the case of type 1 diabetes, the disease-fighting system mistakes healthy cells in the pancreas for foreign, harmful invaders and attacks them, leaving the body unable to produce its own insulin and keep levels of blood glucose under control. There are more than 80 different types of autoimmune disease, from multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes to coeliac disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The immune system is the body's protection against harmful substances such as bacteria, viruses and toxins, all of which contain harmful antigens. To counter this, the immune system produces and sends antibodies (special proteins) to identify destroy these antigens. However, in some cases the immune system cannot distinguish between healthy, harmless tissue and antigens and, as a result, it attacks and destroys normal tissue (in people with diabetes, the cells mistakenly targeted are the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas). This autoimmune reaction (or 'attack') is what triggers the development of an autoimmune disease. What causes the immune system to act this way? The exact cause of autoimmune disease is unknown, although there are many theories about what causes it to malfunction including: Bacteria or virus Drugs Chemical irritants Environmental irritants Studies have shown that autoimmune disorders often run in families and are much more common in women. How serious is it? As well as destroying body tissue, an autoimmune reaction can also affect organ function or result in t Continue reading >>
Is Type 2 Diabetes A Chronic Inflammatory/autoimmune Disease?
Abstract The classification of diabetes mellitus into 2 main types, defined as Type 1 and 2 diabetes (T1DM, T2DM) relies mostly on the requirement of insulin therapy and on the presence of detectable immunologic abnormalities. However, this distinction is far from straightforward and there is considerable overlap between these 2 types of diabetes. Islet cell autoimmunity, which is characteristic of T1DM, appears in fact to be present in up to 10-15% of subjects diagnosed clinically with T2DM. In the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), it was reported that in patients diagnosed with in T2DM, the presence of autoantibodies to the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and cytoplasmic islet cell antibodies (ICA) were a predictor of insulin requirement as compared with patients not carrying these autoantibodies. These results are strikingly similar to a number of prospective studies carried out in childhood diabetes. If islet cell autoimmunity is truly present in 10-15% of subjects clinically diagnosed with T2DM, up to two million Americans might have an unidentified autoimmune form of T2DM, a prevalence similar to that of recent onset childhood diabetes. In addition, we found that in a subset of T2DM patients, a pronounced activation of the acute phase response that seems to be associated with islet cell autoimmunity. These results may in part explain the defect in insulin secretion as well as insulin resistance seen in T2DM. The identification of a subgroup of individuals at risk of developing T2DM using autoantibody as well as inflammatory markers is of public health interest, not only for the correct classification of diabetes, but also because immunomodulatory therapeutic strategies could potentially be instituted sufficiently early in a large number of patients d Continue reading >>
