What is Type 1 Diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects 1.6 million Americans alone, mostly children.
There are two main types of diabetes. Type 1 differs from type 2 in that it is an autoimmune disease that causes your body to create antibodies (little warriors) that attack your pancreas, which makes insulin. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. If you have type 1 diabetes, your body can’t create insulin, which results in high blood sugar levels.
Type 1 Diabetes Symptoms
Do you suspect or know that you have type 1 diabetes or insulin resistance? You may experience symptoms such as these:
- Fatigue and weakness
- Increased thirst
- Frequent urination
- Extreme hunger
- Blurred vision
- Unintended weight loss
- Irritability and other mood changes
- Anxiety
- Sugar cravings after meals
- Bed-wetting in children who previously didn’t wet the bed during the night
Triggers for Type 1 Diabetes
What can trigger or fuel type 1 diabetes?
- Gluten sensitivity or other food triggers
- Viral infection such as Epstein Barr virus (EBV)
- Plastics like BPA, phthalates, parabens
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
- Mold toxicity
- Low glutathione status
- Hormonal imbalances
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Leaky gut
- Blood sugar dysfunction
- Low vitamin D
How Can Dr. Autoimmune Help?
The standard treatment for type 1 diabetes is injectable insulin medication. This method addresses the issue of high blood sugar, but it does not address the root cause of the problem.
It can be frustrating trying to find help with chronic and complex conditions, which is why we have chosen to dedicate our practice to exactly that. Instead of treating the symptoms, the functional medicine approach focuses on finding the causes.
All autoimmune diseases start in the gut. We design custom plans of dietary intervention, supplements and lifestyle recommendations to help heal the gut and support the immune system. In supporting these fundamental functions of the digestive tract we can reduce inflammation and see dramatic changes in symptoms.
Finding the Root Cause
We know that autoimmunity requires 3 things to develop:
- Genetic predisposition
- Leaky gut (a.k.a intestinal permeability)
- An environmental trigger
It All Starts in the Gut!
Our small intestine consists of 25 feet of tubing, the inside surface area being equivalent to that of a doubles tennis court!
Proteins called “tight junctions” prevent a flood of material into the gut. Low vitamin D levels coupled with inflammation in the gut starts to widen the space between cells, allowing materials (bacteria and food) to start seeping through. This triggers inflammation and antibodies are formed against our own tissue.
