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USF Health professor examines possible correlation between probiotics in yogurt and lower rates of Type 1 diabetes among young children in international research study. n
developing Type 1 diabetes by measuring how many antibodies in their blood attacked islet cells. The children, who were all In college, 1 out of 300 enrolled infants when the study began, freshmen has Type 1 diabetes. were given drops of probiotic When one thinks of diabetes, he supplement or formula to or she probably thinks of Type accompany their diets. 2, which is characterized by the “We know that Type 1 diabetes body’s inability to use insulin can take place at a very early properly. But there is another age and usually there is this “We know that Type 1 diabetes can take type of diabetes — Type 1 — that prediabetic condition called islet place at a very early age and usually there autoimmunity that is taking is rare, as it only affects 5 to 10 percent of all diabetics. place, and that is already in is this prediabetic condition called islet This small figure can trick us children that are few months into believing this population autoimmunity that is taking place, and that is old,” Uusitalo said. “So that’s is small, but Type 1 diabetes why it’s important to really look affects approximately 1.25 already in children that are few months old.” at what’s happening in early million American children and life.” adults, according to the American So far, their research Ulla Uusitalo Diabetes Association. Meanwhile, has shown a correlation Associate professor of pediatrics Type 2 affects mostly middlebetween reduced risk of islet aged or older adults, while Type 1 developing: yogurt — or more cases where probiotics helped the autoimmunity and the children is mostly prevalent in children and specifically, the “good bacteria” immune system, so researchers who received probiotics before 27 adolescents, which is why it was that commonly exists in yogurt, are curious to see how probiotics days of age. The children who formerly called juvenile diabetes. called probiotics. would affect autoimmunity. received probiotics after 27 days However, it can appear in adults Ulla Uusitalo is an associate The study began in 2002 and of age or not at all did not show as as well. professor of pediatrics at the took place in six clinical centers much success. There also appeared Insulin is a hormone produced USF Health Morsani College of around the world, with three in to be a 60 percent decrease in risk by the pancreas that circulates Medicine, where she and other the U.S. and three in Europe. of developing islet autoimmunity the body to let glucose enter cells researchers are conducting a large The study sample included over among children who were at the to be used for energy. People cohort observational study called 7,000 children who were tested with Type 2 are insulin-resistant, The Environmental Determinants to determine elevated risk for n See YOGURT on PAGE 2 C O R R E S P O N D E N T
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Yogurt, the front-line defense against Type 1 diabetes? By Hanna Bae
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which means they cannot use the insulin they produce. Type 1, on the other hand, is characterized by the body’s complete inability to produce insulin. The causes of Type 1 diabetes are still unknown, and there is no cure. But there may be a way to prevent this disease from
of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY). The study aims to investigate a connection between probiotics and islet autoimmunity. The research was inspired after seeing the positive effects probiotics had on conditions like allergies and gastrointestinal problems in other studies. There are many