Study links 'hygiene hypothesis' to diabetes prevention

A research study funded by JDRF suggests that a common intestinal bacteria may provide some protection from developing type 1 diabetes. The findings provide an important step towards understanding how and why type 1 diabetes develops in people, and may lead to potential cures. The study, reported this week in Nature Magazine, lends further support to the "hygiene hypothesis," that exposure to an appropriate amount and composition of bacteria may be important to living a healthy life, and that susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune disorders may actually be caused by a lack of exposure to certain parasites and microbes. In the study, researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago found that exposure to certain bacteria will trigger an immune system response in mice. That response is believed to be... [read full story]