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Sister sudden diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes

E

echobeach

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A few weeks ago my sister was diagnosed with type1 diabetes after falling ill. She is 45 and now has to be on insulin for the remainder of her life.

As a precaution i was advised to visit my doctor and have a blood test and was shocked to discover i have very high cholesterol despite a healthy diet and plenty of exercise and not smoking. I am a few kg over weight but run regularly.

Strangely my sister was told she had low cholesterol. Confused.

My triglycerides are also very high.

I'm not sure what i want to ask really but how are diabetes and high cholesterol linked ? How can you have low cholesterol but sudden onset type 1 diabetes ?

Seeing my doctor tomorrow to discuss my options/ statins and a strict low fat diet it seems.

Bewildered.
 
Hello and welcome

Type 1 diabetes is not caused by high cholesterol. It's perfectly normal to have type 1 and low cholesterol.

High cholesterol isn't necessarily caused by diet. It can be inherited, and it may be only some of a group of siblings who inherit it. Many people don't know their cholesterol is high until they have a heart attack or its tested as part of a routine medical. Some believe that reducing cholesterol in the diet has only limited effect on overall cholesterol level.

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune condition where the body destroys the beta cells in the pancreas which produce insulin. In most cases, particular genetic mutations must be present in order to develop type 1 (hence the recommendation for you to be tested), but there must also be another factor which triggers the autoimmune destruction of beta cells. In other words, you can have the genes and still not get type 1. The cause of this immune attack is not fully understood but may involve viruses or being born by caesarean or being bottle-fed as an infant. It's also quite common for a type 1 patient to have no close relatives with the condition. There's no evidence that obesity/diet causes type 1 diabetes.

There is a group of conditions that are thought to be linked and sometimes referred to as syndrome X, although the cause/effect relationship is not fully understood. These include type 2 diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity and perhaps polycystic ovary syndrome. NB this does not include type 1 diabetes.

Hope this helps. I'm sure you'll have many other questions, please go ahead and ask.
 
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