Diabetes Mellitus Type I (Insulin Dependent)
Dr. Weyrich's Naturopathic Functional Medicine Notebook
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Overview
Type I Diabetes Mellitus is sometimes called juvenile onset diabetes because the new onset peaks at about age 12. The onset is rapid and is generally thought to be due to an autoimmune process triggered by some unidentified infection. The autoimune process destroys the pancreatic tissue that produces insulin, thereby requiring lifelong insulin supplementation.There is evidence that atherosclerosis.
Hypothyroidism has been associated with diabetes (type I and II) and it has been observed that diabetic patients concurrently treated for hypothyroidisn are spared most of the secondary causes of morbidity and death [Starr2005, pg 42].
Prevention
There is evidence that hypothyroid function suppresses the immune system and increases succeptibility to whatever bacterialal or viral infection might trigger the autoimmune response [Starr2005].Hypotheses
Type I Diabetes is typically diagnosed when about 90% of insulin-secreting pancreatic tissue has been destroyed. It is theoretically possible that if the autoimmune process can be arrested soon enough, some pancreatic function can be maintained and even some reversal can be achieved. There are no FDA-approved protocols to do this.Adult stem-cell research also holds some promise for restoring pancreatic function. Adult stem-cells are collected from the patient's own tissues and do not have problems with tissue incompatibility (MHC-mismatch) that stem cell lines from other people (such as fetal stem cells) would have. However, introducing new insulin-secreting cells still faces the problem that the autoimmune process must be arrested in order to prevent destruction of the new insulin-secreting cells as well.
ICD-9 Codes
| ICD9-Code | Description | Comments |
|---|---|---|
References
Unless specifically noted above, references used in the construction of this web page include the following:[FDM] Lecture notes from Functional Medicine University.
[SCNM] Lecture notes from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine.
[UT] Lecture notes from the University of Tennessee graduate programs in Chemistry and Biochemistry.
[Starr2005] Mark Starr. Hypothyroidism Type 2: The Epidemic. Columbia, MO: Mark Starr Trust (2005).
[Eaton1954] 10
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