Diabetes Over View

No Proven Evidence That Vaccines Cause Or Increase The Risk Of Developing Diabetes In People.

The incidence in developed countries seems to be increasing, histological and serological findings in insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) are consistent with autoimmune causes and recent work suggests polygenic inheritance. Given the age of the victims of IDDM and marked differences in incidence of the disease in children under 15, international attention has began focusing on the nature of possible external stimuli in the genesis of IDDM. Among these, vaccination schedules have been also called into question as possible modulating factors.

A vaccine is a medicine that's given to help prevent a disease. Vaccines help the body produce antibodies. These antibodies protect against the disease. Vaccines not only help keep your child healthy, they help all children by stamping out serious childhood diseases. Routinely vaccinating children doesn't mean he or she will come down with insulin-dependent diabetes, a devastating disease that tends to strike the immune systems of the young. Various environmental factors, including breast-feeding, infections, immunisation, nitrates and vitamin D have been studied. Breast-feeding is shown to protect children against developing diabetes, while cow's milk feeding may increase the risk. High levels of nitrates in drinking water have also been shown to increase the risk of diabetes. There are few infectious diseases, which have been directly proven to cause diabetes (eg. mumps), although indirect evidence suggests infections may have a role in causing diabetes. Diabetes is a condition in which the body does not make enough or cannot use its own insulin, which is needed to help the body absorb and use sugar from the bloodstream. People with diabetes have high blood sugar levels. Many factors, including genetic and a number of possible environmental factors unrelated to vaccines, may influence the development of diabetes. There is a seasonal variation in the incidence of diabetes, with an increase in late autumn and early winter. This suggests that viral infections may play a part in triggering the onset of diabetes in genetically susceptible people. Some medications such as certain drugs used for the treatment of people with cancer may also cause or hasten the onset of diabetes.

There is no evidence that vaccines cause diabetes. There have been a number of studies, which have searched for links between diabetes and immunizations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it found when researchers compared vaccination records of 252 children diagnosed with type I diabetes with records of 768 children who did not have the disease. Despite earlier studies that suggested a link between certain vaccines and type I diabetes, the CDC scientists say there was no increased risk for the disease no matter at what age the children received the vaccines. With type I diabetes, the immune system attacks the cells that produce insulin in the pancreas, and you lose the ability to metabolize sugar. Insulin shots become a part of daily life, and 20 to 30 years later the organs can begin to fail, and various side effects can happen, including loss of vision.

CDC researchers say parents don't need to worry about vaccines spurring this disease in their children. The evidence that's accumulated now suggests there's not much there to say vaccines, any vaccines, cause diabetes.

The vaccines that have raised the most red flags include: hepatitis B; tuberculosis, or BCG; and Haemophilus influenza type b, or Hib. But as proven varicella vaccine, used to ward off chicken pox, and the DPT vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, are also suspect. Expert bodies have addressed this question around the world, and concluded that there is no evidence to support any changes in the vaccination schedule. There is growing evidence that immunization cause a large number of other chronic diseases including autoimmune disease, allergies, asthma, cancer and gulf war syndrome. Data linking these diseases to vaccines includes human and animal data.

Results of several scientific studies, however, have not been able to prove the relationship between vaccines and an increased risk of diabetes in people.