POWERFUL NEWS FOR CHILDHOOD DISEASE??
Having a small child myself, the idea of Type 1 diabetes striking in infancy is heartbreaking to me. I am strongly in favor of research to help ameliorate this condition in children (including islet cell transplantation). I am even more strongly in favor of increasing and implementing our preventative efforts. We already know that dairy likely plays a strong role in onset of Type 1 DM, and this review looks at the role of Vit D in prevention. Interestingly, these two are connected, and the findings that dairy increases and Vit D decreases risk is very consistent with what we know about how dairy affects conversion of Vit D to its active form, calcitriol. This means that making sure a pregnant mother is replete in Vit D through nursing and giving infants and toddlers Vit D supplementation is pivotal in lowering the incidence of T1DM.
