A new epidemiological study from Denmark demonstrates that people with Diabetest Type 1 are more then 3 times more likely to also develop multiple sclerosis than people without diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is thought to be an autoimmune disorder, as is MS, although that once sacrosanct assertion becomes more controversial with time. In diabetes, the body attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, a critical component that the body uses to break down sugar. In MS, the body attacks components of the CNS, in particular the myelin sheath that protects neurons, as well as oligodendrocytes, the specialized cells that produce myelin.
Previous connections...
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... have been drawn between the two disorders, but the new Danish study is the first of its relatively large size. To come to their conclusions, researchers examined almost 6100 Type 1 diabetes patients for a concurrent MS diagnosis over a decade span. As a second objective, they also examined over 25,000 first degree relatives of both diabetes and MS patients.
In the diabetes group, 11 cases of MS were seen, where statistical models would predict just over 3. This represents a nearly 3 times increase in MS risk for someone with type 1 diabetes versus the general populace.
In the second portion of the study, the researchers found an over 60% higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes if someone is directly related to an MS patient. Even after purging people from that group that were also first degree relatives of someone with Type 1 diabetes, the risk was still 44% higher.
"To our knowledge, the present study is the first truly nationwide cohort study to demonstrate intraindividual and, to a lesser degree, intrafamilial co-occurrence of MS and type 1 diabetes," the investigators write.
"The underlying mechanisms remain unknown," they say, "but may involve both genetic and environmental factors."
Recently, MS was also linked with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), another (controversial) autoimmune disease. One drug under investigation for IBD is Avandia, a drug originally for (you guessed it)-- diabetes. With this newly strengthened link with type 1 diabetes in mind, the disorders that involve a body seemingly working against itself become ever more tightly linked.
Link to reference article:
Diabetes and MS linked in Danish study
