"Researchers close in on diabetes cause"
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/story_11654.aspAustralian researchers may be close to discovering the cause of Type 1 diabetes,
after identifying a link to a toxin in common vegetables.
Type 1 diabetes, the insulin-dependent form of the disease, affects more than
four million children worldwide.
Researchers from Melbourne's Monash University and the International Diabetes
Institute today said they had discovered a link between a disease in vegetables
and damage to the pancreas, the organ that makes insulin.
The study showed that the vegetable disease may be a possible source of the
chemical, bafilomycin (bafilomycin), which is toxic to the insulin-producing
cells in the pancreas and causes diabetes in mice.
Bafilomycin can infect potatoes, carrots, beets and turnips.
The International Diabetes Institute's Paul Zimmet said the discovery was
possibly a world first in linking a common food source to Type 1 diabetes.
He said various other possible causes had been suggested over the years
including cows' milk protein and virus infections.
"While these could cause diabetes in a very small number of people, it clearly
did not explain all causes of Type 1 diabetes," he said.
"A common food toxin would provide a wider cause of Type 1 diabetes and may also
have a role in the causation of Type 2 (or adult) diabetes."
Professor Zimmet said while the discovery was not relevant to people who already
had Type 1 diabetes, it was very relevant for their family and relatives and
other people at risk.
"Should the findings be confirmed, and there is a dietary toxin that causes
diabetes, methods of prevention such as vaccination of people who are
genetically susceptible to diabetes could be possible," Prof Zimmet said.
Prof Zimmet insisted th majority of people in the community were not at risk
even if they ate the infected vegetables, only those genetically predisposed to
Type 1 diabetes.
Researcher Mark Myers said Type 1 diabetes has a high prevalence in western
countries where the consumption of tuberous vegetables and sugar refined from
beets is common.
"For example, potatoes are a major diet stable in Finland and other Scandinavian
countries which have the highest rate of Type 1 diabetes," Dr Myers said.
Prof Zimmet said that the discovery of a potential food toxin might apply to a
number of other serious diseases where the cause was unknown, such as multiple
sclerosis