Type 1 Diabetes

Researchers continue to discover more each year about the genetic risk factors for type 1 and type 2 diabetes and how those risk factors interact with the environment. Scientists have linked several genetic mutations to diabetes risk, though not everyone with a genetic mutation will go on to develop the disease.

A small cohort of healthy adolescents with type 1 diabetes showed signs of altered energy metabolism and cardiovascular autonomic regulation after an exercise test compared with peers of similar age and aerobic fitness level, despite exhibiting normal acute cardiometabolic responses, according to findings from a pilot study published in Pediatric Diabetes.

Young adults with type 1 diabetes were nearly three times more likely to die before age 30 years if they had poor metabolic control during childhood, according to findings from a Swedish registry-based study.

Adults with diabetes of any BMI have lower mortality risk if they are more physically fit, although the “obesity paradox” still holds for less fit people, according to findings published in Diabetes Care.

Patients with type 1 diabetes may be able to avoid hypoglycemia more effectively without an increase in hyperglycemic episodes if they use a mobile closed-loop control system instead of a sensor-augmented pump, according to findings published in Diabetes Care.

Children who have a relative with type 1 diabetes and a single islet autoantibody may be more likely to develop multiple autoantibodies if they have excess weight, according to findings published in Diabetes Care.

Adults with type 1 diabetes may benefit from a “meal detection” algorithm that has displayed superior accuracy in determining meal size and timing and shows promise as an additional component of artificial pancreas systems, according to researchers.

Children may be more likely to develop islet autoimmunity and then type 2 diabetes if they gain weight more quickly during infancy and early childhood and if they become taller faster in early childhood, according to findings published in Diabetes Care.

Cognitive abilities such as executive function, language and episodic memory are all negatively affected by severe hypoglycemia in adults with type 1 diabetes aged at least 60 years, according to findings published in Diabetes Care.

Adults with diabetes may be more likely to be out sick from work for long periods or be unemployed vs. those without diabetes, according to findings from a Danish registry study published in Diabetic Medicine.