Remission without insulin therapy on gluten-free diet in a 6-year old boy with type 1 diabetes

This study was published in the British Medical Journal 2012 Jun 21

Study title and authors:

Remission without insulin therapy on gluten-free diet in a 6-year old boy with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Sildorf SM, Fredheim S, Svensson J, Buschard K.

Paediatric Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark.

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22729336

This paper describes a 5-year and 10-month old boy was diagnosed with classical type 1 diabetes without celiac disease. Patients with type 1 diabetes typically require an insulin dosage of 0.5 to 1.0 unit per kg per day see here.

The boy was put on a gluten-free diet without insulin treatment.

On the gluten-free diet the boy achieved the following:
(a) His initial HbA1c was 7.8% and was stabilised at 5.8%-6.0% without insulin therapy. (A normal non-diabetic HbA1C is 3.5-5.5%. In diabetes about 6.5% is good).
(b) His fasting glucose was maintained at 4.0-5.0 mmol/l. (Diabetes is diagnosed on the criteria of fasting blood glucose level in excess of 7.7 mmol/l).
(c) He does not need insulin therapy.
(d) The gluten-free diet was safe and without side effects.

Sildorf found that the gluten-free diet prolonged remission in this patient with type 1 diabetes.

Links to other studies:
Gluten-containing foods increase the risk of type 1 diabetes in children
Gluten-free diet may be beneficial in the management of type 1 diabetes
Gluten free diet gives type 1 diabetics an improvement in quality of life, better blood sugar control, disappearance of diarrhea and an increase in the uptake of iron

Gluten-free diet may be beneficial in the management of type 1 diabetes

This study was posted in the Journal of Pediatrics 2000 Aug;137(2):263-5

Study title and authors:

Gluten-dependent diabetes-related and thyroid-related autoantibodies in patients with celiac disease.

Ventura A, Neri E, Ughi C, Leopaldi A, Città A, Not T.

Clinica Pediatrica e Laboratorio di Analisi, IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo" Trieste, Trieste, Italy.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10931424?dopt=Abstract

This study investigated the incidence of type 1 diabetes autoantibodies in patients with celiac disease. Diabetes autoantibodies increase the risk of devolping type 1 diabetes. The study included 90 celiac patients. 

In the general population the incidence of type 1 diabetes is around 1 in 10,000 (.01%).

The study found:

(a) 11.1% of celiac patients have type 1 diabetes autoantibodies. 

(b) The autoantibodies seemed to be gluten-dependent and tended to disappear during a gluten-free diet.

This study shows how a gluten-free diet may be beneficial in the management of type 1 diabetes.

Links to other studies:
Gluten free diet gives type 1 diabetics an improvement in quality of life, better blood sugar control, disappearance of diarrhea and an increase in the uptake of iron
Gluten-containing foods increase the risk of type 1 diabetes in children

Gluten-containing foods increase the risk of type 1 diabetes in children

This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 2003 Oct 1;290(13):1721-8

Study title and authors:
Early infant feeding and risk of developing type 1 diabetes-associated autoantibodies.

Ziegler AG, Schmid S, Huber D, Hummel M, Bonifacio E.
Diabetes Research Institute and Hospital München-Schwabing, Munich, Germany. anziegler@lrz.uni-muenchen.de

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14519706

Antibodies are proteins produced by the body. They are used by the immune system to detect and block the harmful effects of foreign substances such as viruses and bacteria.

Autoantibodies attack and damage the body's own healthy cells, tissues and organs. Islet cells in the pancreas produce the hormone insulin. If autoantibodies attack the islet cells then the production of insulin may be severely curtailed or stopped, so the presence of islet cell autoantibodies increases the risk of an individual developing type 1 diabetes.

The objective of the study was to determine whether breastfeeding duration, or age at introduction of gluten-containing foods influences the risk of developing islet autoantibodies. The study followed 1,610 newborn children of parents with type 1 diabetes for 5 years.

The study found there was a 300% rise in islet autoantibodies in children who received gluten-containing foods before the age of 3 months compared with children who received only breast milk until aged 3 months.

The study shows that introducing gluten-containing foods before the age of 3 months to children who have parents with type 1 diabetes significantly increases their risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

Gluten free diet gives type 1 diabetics an improvement in quality of life, better blood sugar control, disappearance of diarrhea and an increase in the uptake of iron

This study was published in Przeglad Lekarski 2009;66(4):170-5

Study title and authors:
The role of celiac disease and type 1 diabetes coexistance. Is celiac disease responsible for diabetic status?
Galicka-Latała D, Zwolińska-Wcisło M, Sosin-Rudnicka L, Rozpondek P.
Katedra i Klinika Chorób Metabolicznych, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Collegium Medicum, Kraków. dlatala@cm-uj.krakow.pl

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19708505?log$=activity

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine in genetically predisposed people.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency of coexistence of celiac disease with type 1 diabetes. The study included 109 patients, aged 18-52, with type 1 diabetes.

The study found:
(a) The frequency of the incidence of celiac disease in type 1 diabetics was nearly 1 in 10. The rate of type 1 diabetics in the general population is only 1 in 800.
(b) Type 1 diabetic patients suffer from diarrhea, abdominal pain, high blood sugar and problems with blood sugar control.
(c) The introduction of a gluten free diet led to improvement in quality of life, better blood sugar control, disappearance of diarrhea and an increase in the uptake of iron.

This study shows that the gluten free diet led to health improvements in celiac patients with type 1 diabetes.

A question you may ask is; "why does gluten have adverse health effects."

Most animals, including our closest relative (the chimpanzee) aren’t adapted to eating cereal grains and humans have only been eating them for around 10,000 years.

Unlike animals, plants such as cereal grains can’t run away from predators, so they make themselves toxic to animals so as to protect themselves from been eaten. The cereals wheat, barley and rye contain the protein gluten which is toxic to higher or lesser degrees in up to 80% of the population. Gluten can damage the lining of the intestines and make it leaky, and a leaky gut is a major precursor to developing diabetes.

AMAZON UK Getting Your Kid on a Gluten-free Casein-free Diet
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Gluten in the diet is associated with retarded teeth enamel; retarded growth; arthritis and other immunologic diseases; association with diabetes, allergies, gastrointestinal deficiencies, and probably Down's syndrome

Published in the Pediatr Clin North Am. 1988 Feb;35(1):157-87.

Gluten-sensitive enteropathy in childhood.
Auricchio S, Greco L, Troncone R.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Naples, Italy.

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3277130
 
For celiac children the author observed that gluten in the diet is associated with retarded teeth enamel; retarded growth; arthritis and other immunologic diseases; association with diabetes, allergies, gastrointestinal deficiencies, and probably Down's syndrome.
 
Auricchio added: "Celiac children do require a permanent gluten-free (and not poor) diet. In reality, too many celiac adolescents are off-diet".

AMAZON UK The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May be Sabotaging Your Health
AMAZON USA The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health--And What You Can Do to Take Control Now

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