Children Of Mothers Who Owned Pet Hamster Show Greater Type 1 Diabetes Risk

[DCUK NewsBot]

Children born to a mother who kept a pet hamster during her pregnancy had an increased risk of type 1 diabetes, a new study reveals. This unusual correlation was made by Swedish researchers, who think that hamsters may carry certain viruses which impact type 1 diabetes risk. The research doesn't necessarily mean that families who own hamsters should rehome the pet because correlation studies cannot indicate cause. However, the research adds to other studies linking viruses transmitted by animals to type 1 diabetes. Last year, the 2009 swine flu outbreak was linked to increase type 1 diabetes rates in Norway. The Swedish study involved collecting health data from more than 16,000 parents who had children in the late 1990s. Researchers wanted to investigate why type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed so early in life and whether having a pet could impact the chances of getting the condition. Taking into consideration diabetes family history, they looked at the number of children who had later gone on to develop type 1 diabetes and what sort of pet their parents had owned when pregnant. The data showed that 25% of expectant mothers had a cat and 18.7% had dogs. No link was determined between owning either animal and the child later being diagnosed with diabetes. But the researchers did find that five children out of 150 families who had kept a hamster during pregnancy had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This meant the chances of developing the condition was four times greater than average. "Exposure to hamster during pregnancy seems to increase the risk of T1D in the child. One possibility could be infection by virus hosted by the pet," said the study authors. The researchers note that many other cases of type 1 diabetes occurred without hamsters being linked, adding "As only a small minority of the mothers, whose children later developed T1D, had a hamster during the pregnancy, this factor cannot be regarded as a common causal factor." Despite these intriguing results, more research must be carried out before experts can definitely say that being exposed to hamsters is unsafe during pregnancy. JDRF, which reported on the study, note that there may be a third unidentified factor involved, such as a virus or another factor, which was not explored in this most recent study. The findings have been published in the Paediatric Diabetes journal.

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[zand]

 

[Robinredbreast]

My adult daughter owned 3 Hamster's when she was a youngster/teenager, Nibbles, Fudge and Teddy Bear. She recently had gestational diabetes. But.......... I wasn't pregnant at the time. ( Tbh, couldn't help but roll my eye's at this post)

 

[Guzzler]

I was sat here trying to think of a response. Thanks for taking the words straight out of my mouth!

 

[zand]

lol at least the poor mice weren't being the guinea pigs this time.

 

[ickihun]

Children born to a mother who kept a pet hamster during her pregnancy had an increased risk of type 1 diabetes, a new study reveals. This unusual correlation was made by Swedish researchers, who think that hamsters may carry certain viruses which impact type 1 diabetes risk. The research doesn't necessarily mean that families who own hamsters should rehome the pet because correlation studies cannot indicate cause. However, the research adds to other studies linking viruses transmitted by animals to type 1 diabetes. Last year, the 2009 swine flu outbreak was linked to increase type 1 diabetes rates in Norway. The Swedish study involved collecting health data from more than 16,000 parents who had children in the late 1990s. Researchers wanted to investigate why type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed so early in life and whether having a pet could impact the chances of getting the condition. Taking into consideration diabetes family history, they looked at the number of children who had later gone on to develop type 1 diabetes and what sort of pet their parents had owned when pregnant. The data showed that 25% of expectant mothers had a cat and 18.7% had dogs. No link was determined between owning either animal and the child later being diagnosed with diabetes. But the researchers did find that five children out of 150 families who had kept a hamster during pregnancy had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This meant the chances of developing the condition was four times greater than average. "Exposure to hamster during pregnancy seems to increase the risk of T1D in the child. One possibility could be infection by virus hosted by the pet," said the study authors. The researchers note that many other cases of type 1 diabetes occurred without hamsters being linked, adding "As only a small minority of the mothers, whose children later developed T1D, had a hamster during the pregnancy, this factor cannot be regarded as a common causal factor." Despite these intriguing results, more research must be carried out before experts can definitely say that being exposed to hamsters is unsafe during pregnancy. JDRF, which reported on the study, note that there may be a third unidentified factor involved, such as a virus or another factor, which was not explored in this most recent study. The findings have been published in the Paediatric Diabetes journal.

Continue reading...

My grandparents had all kinds. Parrot, love birds, canaries and dogs. Even a donkey.

Neither wonder I have all kinds. Ha ha
Well would do IF my mother had involved herself in their up keep.
No hamster til youngest sister was 30 and still lived at home but no pregnancies in the parental house. I lived away.
Hang on i had a hamster while pregnant. I didn't do any cleaning or handling. Baby born autistic not type1.
Maybe research has been muddled up with another?

 

[bamba]

Someone must really be clutching at straws to get a research grant.

 

[ringi]

Odd, as having a pet dog as a child decreases the risk of asthma and a child having asthma increases the risk of the child later having type 1 diabetes.

( note that it is unlikely that asthma directly increases the risk of type 1 diabetes but there could be a common environmental risk factor for example not getting exposed to a wide range of germs as a baby. It may even be that parents who have dogs are more likely to allow children to get dirty while playing and nothing to do with the dog at all, or even how long they spend outside in the countryside)

 

[Guzzler]

As Kendrick says 'Publish or be damned to obscurity'.

 

[Mr_Pot]

Someone must really be clutching at straws to get a research grant.

Maybe they could go on to study mothers who lived near a fish and chip shop or rode a motorbike.

 

[ringi]

Seems a very reasonable study to me they asked the mother about all different types of pets erc and we know that there's a relationship between pets and asthma therefore it is reasonable to ask the question of type 1 diabetes with both being autoimmune conditions.

PS studies about fish and chip shops have been done but living near fast food outlets is correlated with having a low social status and low income so are very hard to interpret.

 

[kev-w]

What about a pet duck?