My daughter is 6 and has Type 1 diabetes. She was diagnosed almost 4 years ago. She has also been diagnosed with atrophic dermatitis and alopecia areatia. I am wondering with all these autoimmune disorders, should we expect to see other problems arise in this area? Her thyroid up to this point has been fine. Is there a diagnosis for these several immune problems? I am wondering if there is something else we should be evaluating.

It is now well understood that Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune illness and thus it is often associated with other organ-specific autoimmune diseases such as autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), adrenal insufficiency (Addison’s disease), duodenal mucosa atrophy secondary to gluten sensitivity (celiac disease), multiple sclerosis and others such as atrophic dermatitis and alopecia areatia. The most common one is thyroid disease (one in ten diabetic children will eventually develop it) and celiac disease (one in fifty) whilst this risk is much lower for other disorders. The only way to identify at an earlier stage these autoimmune-related disorders is to check all the children periodically (every two or three years after the initial diagnosis of type 1 diabetes) for the various autoantibodies. Many clinics for Type 1 diabetes include these assays in their routine follow ups.

MS