
September 6, 1999
Research: Causes and Prevention
Question from New York, New York, USA:
I am 26 years old and was diagnosed with type 1 three months ago. For one year before that, I was taking Propecia (the hair loss pill). Could that be the reason for my diabetes? I must add that the pill had some strong sexual side effects on me which have now been corrected since I stopped.
Answer:
Propecia would not have been responsible for Type 1 diabetes. The autoimmune process which causes it would have been in part determined genetically and it would almost certainly have been active for some years previously. It is possible though, that the stress of the complications might have hastened the final development of actual clinical diabetes.
DOB