Disease Description

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a medical condition that occurs when the pancreas, an organ in the abdomen, produces very little or no insulin. Insulin, a hormone that helps the body to absorb and use glucose (sugar). Without insulin, blood glucose levels become higher than normal.

Type 1 diabetes mos often develops when the immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells (beta-cells) in the pancreas. This is called an autoimmune response. The cause of this abnormal immune response is still not completely understood.

This process can take time to occur, and initially there may be no symptoms of diabetes. High blood sugar and its associated symptoms (frequent urination, thirst) do not usually occur until more than 90 percent of the cells that make insulin have been destroyed. . Type 1 diabetes usually begins in childhood or young adulthood, but can develop at any age.

Type 1 diabetes can develop in people with a family history of type 1 diabetes, but it also develops in people with no family history of diabetes. In either case, people who develop diabetes have one or more genes that make them susceptible to the disease. Environmental factors, such as exposure to certain viruses and foods early in life, might trigger the autoimmune response. [1]

Prevalence

In 2012, 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population, had diabetes. Diabetes remains the 7th leading cause of death in the United States in 2010. In the United States, Canada, and Europe, type 1 diabetes accounts for 5 to 10 percent of all cases of diabetes [1]

Current Treatment Options

Insulin treatment is one component of a diabetes treatment plan for people with type 1 diabetes. Insulin treatment replaces the body's own insulin, and aims to restore normal or near-normal blood sugar levels. With a little extra planning, people with diabetes who take insulin can lead a full life and keep their blood sugar under control.[1]

Evidence for and Proposed Mechanism for Cannabinoid Therapies

It was found that CBD treatment of 6- to 12-week-old mice significantly reduces the incidence of diabetes from 86% in nontreated control mice to 30% in CBD-treated mice. Results indicated that CBD can inhibit and delay destructive insulitis and inflammatory Th1-associated cytokine production in mice, resulting in a decreased incidence of diabetes possibly through an immunomodulatory mechanism shifting the immune response.[2] Research strengthens the previous assumption that CBD, known to be safe in humans, can possibly be used as a therapeutic agent for treatment of type 1 diabetes.[2]

1. UpToDate online resource

2. Weiss L, Zeira M, Reich S et al (2006) Cannabidiol lowers incidence of diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice. Autoimmunity 39:143–151