Childhood trauma may raise risk of type 1 diabetes

By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) - Traumatic events during childhood may increase kids' risk of developing type 1 diabetes, a Swedish study suggests. The researchers questioned more than 10,000 families and found that children who experienced an extremely stressful life event – like divorce, illness or death in the family – were about three times more likely to develop type 1 diabetes. The link doesn't prove trauma causes diabetes, but it does raise the possibility that mental health care or stress reduction could play a role in prevention, researchers said. "We know that there are connections between the brain and immune system, and it is not surprising that psychological trauma can influence the immune balance and contribute to abnormal reactions" including the development of type 1 diabetes, study coauthor Dr. Johnny Ludvigsson, a pediatrics researcher at Linkoping University in Sweden, said by email.



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