As of 2007, an estimated one out of six hundred children and adolescents has type 1 diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Type 1 diabetes is a disorder involving the immune system and its destruction of the pancreatic cells responsible for producing insulin, explains the University of Maryland Medical Center. Insulin is the hormone that helps the body metabolize blood sugar, notes MedlinePlus, a service of the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. The exact causes of type 1 diabetes remain unknown, but nevertheless, there are a few factors that are highly likely to cause type 1 diabetes.
Cold Climate and the Environment
The possibility exists that type 1 diabetes is caused by cold or wintry weather, notes the American Diabetes Association. Current data seems to suggest the higher incidence of type 1 diabetes in places that experience generally cold weather patterns as opposed to warmer places. Nevertheless, it takes type 1 diabetes five to 10 years to completely destroy the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, explains MedlinePlus.
Early Diet
Type 1 diabetes may be caused by early diet, the American Diabetes Association notes. The disorder seems more likely to occur in people that were fed infant formula as babies. Moreover, type 1 diabetes also seems more likely to occur in those who started ingesting regular solid food at an earlier age.
Genetic Background
Majority of type 1 diabetics possess an inherent predisposition to developing diabetes, notes the American Diabetes Association. However, there is strong evidence that suggests that the parents of most type 1 diabetics are themselves diabetic. As such, the genetic predisposition must be inherited from a type 1 diabetic mother and father, explains the American Diabetes Association. Further studies have revealed that the process of developing type 1 diabetes does not happen overnight. In order to develop the disorder, specific antibodies are required. The antibodies are responsible for the destruction of the pancreatic cells that produce insulin, explains MedlinePlus. Type 1 diabetics possess the right combination of genes to produce the antibodies that lead to type 1 diabetes.
Viruses and Bacteria
Type 1 diabetes is can be caused by the infection of certain viruses and bacteria. These pathogens are the type that not only trigger mild symptoms, but cause the body's immune system to attack the body's own pancreatic cells, notes MayoClinic.com. The viruses act as catalysts that set off an autoimmune response that results in the destruction of the pancreatic cells that produce insulin.
