A Florida-based internist, Naval Parikh, MD, practices preventive medicine at SortinoMD in Boca Raton. Beyond this, he serves as a clinical site coordinator for NAPA Research. In addition, Naval Parikh, MD, has presented on diabetes at the 13th Annual Diabetes Fall Symposium for Primary Health Care Professionals.
An autoimmune disease, type 1 diabetes (T1D) develops when the immune system mistakenly begins attacking the pancreatic cells responsible for producing insulin. As these cells are destroyed, the body creates less and less insulin, a hormone necessary for letting sugar into the cells and lowering the amount of sugar in the bloodstream. As a result of this, patients with T1D begin experiencing such symptoms as extreme hunger, increased thirst, and blurred vision.
While it’s not entirely clear why a person develops T1D, the condition has been linked to a person’s family history of diabetes and their genes. Having just one relative with T1D increases a person’s risk of developing the condition to 1:20. While this may not seem very high, it is roughly 15 times higher than the general population’s risk of the condition. Meanwhile, certain genes have been linked to a higher risk of T1D, particularly those genes associated with the body’s immune response.
Beyond family history and genes, environmental triggers impact a person’s risk of T1D. Viruses that target beta cells often increase a person’s risk of developing the condition. When these viruses take hold, the immune response increases to fight it. Unfortunately, the response sometimes goes wrong and results in uninfected beta cells being attacked, thus leading to the development of T1D.
Finally, both age and geography play a role in a person’s risk of T1D. Children typically have the highest incidence rate of the condition between the ages of 4 and 7, and between the ages of 10 and 14. Children who live farther away from the equator also have a higher chance of developing the disease.
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