fuller@ecsvax.UUCP (03/06/84)
Ok. Here's my contribution for uneducated question of the week.
There's a lot of diabetes in my family, both of the juvenile and
adult onset varieties. Awhile back I thought that juvenile diabetes
was inherited and adult diabetes was caused by environmental factors
(eating too much sugar). Then I read in Scientific American that
just the reverse was true. (Sorry, I can't provide a reference.)
Now I read in the last issue of Newsweek that juvenile diabetes is
inherited (or at least the susceptibility thereof) with no mention
of the adult onset variety. Obviously SciAm is the more
authoritative source, but maybe thinking on this has changed in
the interim. Can anyone provide me with the straight scoop?
Does either variety of this disease occur in animals other than human?
I am also interested in the role of viruses in these diseases.
Have such viruses been identified? Could the discovery of such
viruses lead to a vaccine for diabetes? Is the plural of virus
"vira"? Would these questions be more appropriate in net.med?
Answer anywhere you want to
Bill Fuller
{akgua,decvax}!mcnc!ecsvax!fullerstanwyck@ihuxr.UUCP (Don Stanwyck) (03/06/84)
Okay, I'll tackle this one. Diabetes. There are two types which I am familiar with. The first, usually known as Type 1 diabetes (aka juvenile diabetes) has been diagnosed in people from 60 hours of age through 90+ years of age. It is widely held that the tendancy toward Type 1 diabetes is inherited, but now the disease itself. (This is what my brother-in-law has. He lives with us, and we deal with on a daily basis. For you other diabetics - he is a 75 unit a day (45L+15S a.m. and 15S p.m.) U-100 user) The other type I am familiar with is frequently refered to as latent diabetes. This is the type that usually strikes sometime around retirement (55-70 years). There is believed to be a tight relationship between hypoglycemia in young people and latent diabetes in the elderly. (This is what my grandfather has, and it is expected that if I don't care for myself, I will get.) The tendancy toward this type of diabetes is also believed to be inherited. Sorry, no references handy except for the 3/4/84 Sunday Chicago Tribune. The Trib is running a multi-week (5-week?) series on diabetes, and 3/4 was the first week. One tidbit I did pick up from there - the Romans noticed that some people's urine attracted bees and ants. So they tasted it and found it sweet. This became the standard way of diagnosing diabetes - tasting the person's urine to determine how sweet it was. Anyone want to aapply for the job? (Modern methods have done away with the technique, but I suppose we could fix you up if you really wanted to.....) -- ________ ( ) Don Stanwyck @( o o )@ 312-979-3062 ( || ) Cornet-367-3062 ( \__/ ) ihnp4!ihuxr!stanwyck (______) Bell Labs @ Naperville, IL