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5 Reasons That May Explain Why Type 1 Diabetes Is on the Rise

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I am 60 and a diabetic....I have worked hard, by losing weight and watching my carb intake, to be able to maintain good A1C numbers without using any meds at this point. I take daily glucose readings 5-7 times per day.....so I have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn't in my diet. Over Lent, for convenience, I prepared boxed "Mac&Cheese"...along with salad for dinner. The first time I had the meal, I noticed and abnormal spike in my blood sugars....pre dinner was 101.....two hours after eating it rocketed to 225....this NEVER happens and does not happen with other pastas that I eat sparingly. The next two meals of this, even though I supplemented with steamed veggies and cut my portion of the pasta back to only about 1/2 cup showed equal or higher results! I was stunned!!! Since I rarely ever cook "packaged" or "prepared" meals, and I NEVER experience such high readings otherwise.......my only conclusion can be that there is something in that box which put huge stress on my system....is it dyes? Is it preservatives? Is it processing of the ingredients? When I think of how many of our population regularly intake ready-made boxed or canned food, I think it is worth a study to determine what is in these items that could raise such obvious havoc with a diabetic or perhaps be a catalyst for creating future diabetics!!!! I would have no clue of how I was reacting to this food if I didn't take my glucose readings so frequently (most diabetics do not scrutinize like this).....suffice to say, I will NEVER eat that meal again. We know how long it took for the tobacco companies to accept that their product was a carcinogen.....could food products laden with preservatives, dyes and over-processing be the cause of this diabetic epidemic????? After my experience, it seems a certain possibility! So researchers, companies....USGOV...look right into your own larder.....I think the cause of so many new diabetics is right in front of our nose....or mouth.....

melissa of CO 12:12PM April 03, 2013

Let's consider everything except the elephant in the room: Too many vaccines?
After all, the whole point of vaccines is to stimulate the immune system.

Twyla of CA 3:12AM December 26, 2012

None of the above, save for the cow's milk (baby formula). I was small, grew slowly, got lots of sunshine in clean early 70's San Diego air, and played in the dirt with bugs and animals regularly. I am a 41 year-old woman diagnosed T1 at 14.5. I've always blamed the formula, early bronchitis, processed meat and dairy (I did not eat sweets), and maternal neglect/isolation/depression from early infancy. I believe psychology plays an important role, as I've met many other T1's who are emotionally sensitive and suffered some type of loss or lack of love prior to diagnosis.

Michelle of OR 4:03AM October 14, 2012

I have had type 1 for 62 years and born in England where we didnt get much sunshine, especially during the war years and air raids, I was the very first kid to get diabetus in '49 and they kept me in hospital for 8 weeks not knowing what to do with me besides giving me insulin...

Margaret of NY 4:25PM July 17, 2012

I 53, diagnosed at age 46. Fortunate that I got warning signs at least 5 of 8 catergories. But, I wonder if this was lying dormant since I was born somehow. It is quite possible, that one could have type 1 diabetes, and it be masked, but eventually show up later in one's life.
Now since I've had Type 1 Diabetes mellitus, I am looking to getting the new Tubless insulin pump. I what you call a brittle diabetic," I can go low or have high sugars.
I say eventually, all the foods that we are eating and the additives are somehow causing to some degree diabetes.

Howard Edmonds of OH 10:49PM June 05, 2012

My sincere advice is to ignore the "too clean" hypothesis. Cleanliness in the developed world is the saving grace against plague and illness that causes the body to waste away. Try telling the inhabitants of distant lands like Bangladesh they are actually in good shape because, unlike those in the "west," they're not "too clean." Did someone throw "too clean" in there for comic relief?

Evan of CA 5:20PM January 24, 2012

Glutamate is another possibility. There's a very large amount of it added to processed food and modern wheat is much higher in it than old wheat was. The pancreas has glutamate receptors, so it has the capacity to change the signalling of the pancreas.
I agree with the vitamin D hypothosis as well. I have diabetes, and from the 1st vitamin D pill I noticed my blood sugars were better. Perhaps calcium as well. People with low calcium and low vitamin D tend to get diabetes more than people with higher levels.

Kathy of CA 1:57AM January 12, 2012

Candy, processed foods, soda, sugars are the cause. Why don't doctors recognize this?

Martha Wescott of CO 2:24AM November 01, 2011

Funding will increase & a cure will be found. I'm type 1 - antibody positive for the past 10 years. There are thousands dx every year in their 30's. Many doc's mistakenly characterize these folks as type 2's. There is an ignorance in the medical community that adults don't get type 1. They do! If your recently dx make sure and have your doc run the antibody screen. If he/she won't then find a new doc FAST.

wfinch of TX 1:33AM December 23, 2010