July 22, 2003
Research: Causes and Prevention
Question from Mesa, Arizona, USA:
I was doing some research about the effects of BSA [Bovine Serum Albumin] at early ages and learned from my parents that I drank formulas for my first year, then was switched to cow’s milk, and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after chicken pox at the age of two. Do you think these two together could be the reason I got it? Are there any recent studies about the effects of BSA?
Answer:
The cow’s milk protein that was suspected for some time as contributing to type 1A (autoimmune) diabetes was not BSA or Bovine Serum Albumin but rather Alpha1 beta casein. The controversy surrounding this environmental factor went on for many years with conflicting studies until it was finally disproved quite recently. There’s lots more to study about the environmental triggers of type 1 diabetes — vitamin D and the enteroviruses are two.
DOB
