Type 1 diabetes: recent developments

Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic childhood illnesses, affecting 18 to 20 per 100 000 children a year in the United Kingdom. 1 The American Diabetes Association committee recommends the term type 1A diabetes for immune mediated diabetes with its destruction of the islet cells of the pancreas. 2 Nonimmune mediated diabetes with severe insulin deficiency is termed type 1B. In this review, we will use the term type 1 diabetes to refer to immune mediated type 1A diabetes. At present, the development of type 1 diabetes is a life sentence to a difficult therapeutic regimen that is only partially effective in preventing acute and chronic complications. We will concentrate here on recent advances in our understanding of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, prediction, and prevention of type 1 diabetes and new treatments for the disease.