1. Too big too fast. The “accelerator hypothesis” says that children who are bigger and grow faster are more likely to develop type 1 diabetes than kids who are smaller and grow more slowly. “Basically, [the] growth kind of stresses the body out,” and overworks the organs, says Hurley. For kids who are genetically susceptible to type 1 diabetes, this bodily stress can essentially instigate the disease, he explains.
2. Too little sun. Might the sun—and vitamin D levels—be key to warding off type 1 diabetes? The “sunshine hypothesis” is based on data showing that countries situated closer to the equator, on average, have lower rates of type 1 diabetes.
3. Too clean. The “hygiene hypothesis” holds that our environments have become so clean that lack of exposure to certain germs and parasites may actually be harmful to us in some ways—including increasing our susceptibility to diseases like diabetes.
4. Too much cow’s milk. Can the type of milk a baby is fed affect his or her type 1 diabetes risk? The “cow’s milk hypothesis” says so. It holds that exposing babies to infant formula containing cow’s milk in the first six months of life tinkers with their developing immune systems, which may trigger the autoimmune disease.
5. Too much pollution. The “POP hypothesis” involves the theory that being exposed over time to pollutants may increase the risk of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. But the research is more convincing for type 2 diabetes. There have been a bunch of epidemiologic studies, where if you lived in a county where there was a toxic waste dump, you had a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
[Source]
Chapter: Diabetes :: 19 June 2010
