The prevalence of type 1 diabetes in European children has been increasing significantly over the past decades. Now, a ten year study is being conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland, to try and determine whether modifications in early nutrition can help prevent type 1 diabetes from developing in at risk groups.
A focus of the study is to determine if removing cow’s milk from the infants diet will have an influence on developing diabetes in the future. Because they are examining the effect of nutrition at a young age having an impact on the percentage of children developing type 1 diabetes later on in childhood, the kids in the study will be followed for ten years.
Preparations for this study started in may 2002, and until December 2006 more children will continue to be recruited to increase the sample size. There are some requirements though; the infant has to have at least one direct family member with type 1 diabetes, and carry a genotype called HLA, which increases the risk of type 1 diabetes.
The study is being conducted across borders, and the data management unit is located in Florida. Making this a multinational study of course increases the logistical problems, but researchers managed to develop a data system that works extremely well and is easy to use, now and in future studies.
Aside from looking at food intake, the study will also look at growing patterns. As it turns out, children in Northern Europe grow faster and taller than children in central and Southern Europe. This higher growth spurt has also been identified as having a possible effect on developing type 1 diabetes, with the faster growing children being more at risk.
I am very excited about this study, although we will not see concrete results for another couple of years. Undertaking such a large and multinational research project is definitely worthy of some international applause. This study will intersect borders, languages and cultures and hopefully bring us more information about type 1 diabetes so children around the world can receive better preventative methods.
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