A common virus found in fecal matter is definitively linked to Type 1 Diabetes, a new study reports the most recent on diabetes news. This finding is brings the possibility of developing a vaccine that might one day prevent the lifelong disorder. The study is not the first of its kind but it is the first one that clearly makes the connection.
The virus found in poo is called enterovirus, and it commonly affect majority of kids around the world. This virus usually cause mild symptoms like the common cold. However, other strains can cause more serious complications such as the polio virus, enterovirus-D68, and coxsackievirus which cause the hand, foot, mouth disease.
The latest diabetes news, supported with previous studies, concludes that children who are exposed to enterovirus are more likely to develop type 1 Diabetes. They definitively determined that kids with diabetes have around three times more enterovirus infections compared to healthy kids.The virus typically shows up a year before they tested positive for signs of diabetes, the Health says.
On the downside, the study fails to prove a causal relationship between the virus and diabetes. However, several international studies are on the way to better understand the contribution of the virus on the development of the metabolic disease. New studies are also bound to discover which strains damages the pancreas.
The implication of the study gives rise to the possibility of a vaccine that is designed to attack enterovirus strains that cause diabetes in children. In England, the cases of diabetes in older people have increased but insulin injections are effective in diminishing the symptoms, the Express reports. However, type 2 diabetes is more due to an unhealthy lifestyle than a virus.
For now, health experts recommend that parents safeguard their children from getting diabetes the same way we try to prevent colds and flu. Frequent handwashing is very important to decrease chances of enterovirus contamination. Also, the recent diabetes news recommends putting a distance from those who are infected with enterovirus.
