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Scientist I found the reason for this type 1 diabetes is more serious and aggressive in youth ChildrenExperts say it could change the way the condition is treated and prevented.
type 1 diabetesin which the immune system is destroyed insulin-A build-up of cells in the pancreas, often developing more rapidly in young children under seven years of age, and increasing the likelihood of medical emergencies and the need for higher doses of insulin.
researchers of University of Exeter Researchers have found that young children with type 1 diabetes lose nearly all of their insulin-producing cells before they mature.
The study’s lead author, Professor Sarah Richardson, of the University of Exeter, said: “These tiny insulin-producing beta cell clusters – once overlooked – hold big clues to understanding type 1 diabetes.
“This new perspective has the potential to reshape the way we diagnose, treat, and even prevent type 1 diabetes. Protecting small beta cell clusters may be the key to stopping type 1 diabetes before it starts.”
When eight-year-old Gracie Nye Merseyside When she was a child, she lay unconscious in a hospital bed after suffering from a cold, according to her parents.
She was 23 months old when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Her father, Gareth Nee, said: “We lived in constant fear, setting the alarm every two hours to prick her fingers at night, worrying whether she would still be with us in the morning.”
Gracie had diabetic ketoacidosis, a serious complication of diabetes in which a lack of insulin causes harmful substances called ketones to build up in the blood.
Mr Nee said: “Research like this, and the potential it holds, will be vital in reducing the number of children like Gracie who are diagnosed in critical care. It gives us confidence that one day she may be free from her condition – and fewer parents and children will have to go through the same experience.”
In the study, published progress of science, Scientists researched insulin-producing cells, which are found in groups in the pancreas. These clusters are still developing in young children and contain only a few insulin-producing cells.
After analyzing rare pancreas samples from more than 250 people with and without type 1 diabetes, they found that young children without type 1 diabetes had larger amounts of small clusters of insulin-producing cells.
But in young children who have type 1 diabetes, researchers noticed that these small clusters were almost completely absent after they were destroyed by the immune system.
About 400,000 people in the UK suffer from type 1 diabetes. According to the Diabetes UK charity, it affects around 1,700 children under the age of 5.
Professor Richardson said: “This research underlines the vital role of these small clusters in the development of healthy pancreas and opens the door to new treatments to protect small clusters of children’s insulin-producing cells, allowing them to mature into larger clusters that are less vulnerable to immune attack.
“It also strengthens the case for early type 1 diabetes screening – especially in young children – as essential to identify those at early stages of type 1 diabetes before these vital cells are destroyed.”