
August 20, 2000
Research: Causes and Prevention
Question from Milton, Florida, USA:
I am 44 with Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed 21 years ago (age 23). I had a situation in boot camp which was simply called, for lack of any other name, Poly-Rheumatic-Arthritis (extremely painful to the touch swelling of joints below the waist). Is this possibly a prediabetic onset condition?
Answer:
Type 1 diabetes is a autoimmune disorder and as such is often associated with other autoimmune diseases as Hashimoto thyroiditis, celiac disease, or Addison’s disease.
Sometimes, even much more rarely than with the previous conditions, it can be associated with a form of arthritis called rheumatoid arthritis, but never with a different disorder, rheumatic arthritis. All those conditions are not markers of future development of type 1 diabetes.
MS