Environmental Factors In the Pathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is autoimmune disease that is due to the interaction of environmental factors with genetically susceptible terrain. The increasing incidence of T1DM in western countries suggests the existence of environmental factors responsible for the increasing incidence of the disease. The identification of this putative factor is crucial for the development of strategies to prevent type 1 diabetes mellitus. By the analysis of literature, we identified the susceptible factors such as infection (coxsackie virus or cognate rubeola), early exposition to the cow's milk toxins etc. There exist even opposite theories such as hygiene hypothesis suggesting that the development of T1DM might be a result of the lack of protective environmental factor. Available data do not allow to detect causal relation between any of susceptible factors and the development of T1DM and do not allow to develop any strategy to prevent type 1 diabetes mellitu