With the emergence of Type 1 diabetes the immune system plays a crucial role. At least 90% of newly infected patients are different antibodies in the blood show that falsely against the body’s own tissues and substances are addressed. Therefore, one speaks also of an autoimmune disease or immune-mediated form of diabetes. Among these autoantibodies are islet cell antibodies (ICA), insulin autoantibodies (IAA), antibodies against the enzyme Glutamatdecarboxylase (GADA) and antibodies against IA-2 tyrosine kinase. In a small proportion of patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 are, however, neither antibody nor any other cause of the disease found. One then speaks of the idiopathic form. Other risk factors such as The influence of diet is still being discussed.
Autoantibodies can often be long before the beginning of the Type-1-diabetes found
The destruction of islet cells begins months to years before the actual start of diabetes. We know now that ten years before the actual outbreak of type 1 diabetes, islet cell antibodies are detectable in the blood. Only after 80 to 90 percent of the insulin producing tissue in the pancreas are destroyed, it comes to the onset of diabetes mellitus.
Why these autoantibodies arise is still a largely unresolved issue. It is suspected that certain infections (eg measles, mumps, rubella, Coxsackieviren) to a hereditary given, especially the immune system reacts meet. The lymphocytes probably get the wrong “Command”, the islet cells in the pancreas to destroy.
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