Natural History of Type 1 Diabetes

摘要

The natural history of autoimmune type 1 diabetes in children is associated with the appearance of islet autoan-tibodies early in life, which is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Once islet autoantibodies have developed, the progression to diabetes in antibody-positive individuals is determined by the age of antibody appearance and by the magnitude of the autoimmunity, in turn related to the age of the subject. Characteristics that describe the magnitude of the autoimmunity can stage progression to type 1 diabetes in islet autoantibody-posi-tive subjects regardless of genetic background or age.