My 14-year-old daughter was just released after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I know that the doctors sent out some blood work for confirmation. I have received some results electronically. My pediatrician called me to check up on my daughter and asked about the results, but we do not see endocrinologist again for four weeks. She had a high GAD, extremely high Anti-Thyroid Peroxidase AB (811.2 U/ml), and high Thyroglobulin Antibody (12 IU/ml). Are all of these related to diagnosing her diabetes or could they be indicative of some other disease that can go along with type 1?

It sounds like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis with both thyroid antibody tests positive. This is quite common; about 20% of type 1 kids also have concomitant thyroid inflammation. This means that she will need some thyroid blood work checked periodically unless she already has had that done already with the baseline blood work. Both Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and type 1 diabetes are called autoimmune disorders and they commonly come together. You may want to discus this with her diabetes team so that they can explain what they have already checked, when they will recheck, etc. If there is also family history of thyroid disease, this is also quite common. Celiac disease and sometimes adrenal insufficiency also commonly go together and also should be considered.

SB