What Causes Type 1 Diabetes?

Cow's Milk

Under investigation is a link between type 1 diabetes and exposure to cow's milk early in infancy. One study found 1.5% of infants who are fed cow's milk go on to develop type 1 diabetes, and another found that children fed cow's milk in the first eight days of life had twice the risk as those on breast milk. A protein called bovine serum albumin (BSA), which might develop in children who are fed cow's milk in early infancy, resembles a protein in beta-cells.

Some researchers believe that the antibodies formed to respond to BSA may later on attack the child's beta-cells. It should be noted, however, that children with diabetes have no higher levels of BSA antibodies than non-diabetic children; more research is needed to refute or confirm the association.

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