Can a car accident trigger Diabetes (Type 1)?

My mother was involved in a car accident 12 months ago. She wasn't badly hurt but did receive a broken bone and had to have physiotherapy for a couple of months afterwards. In the last 3 months she has suddenly developed Diabetes (type 1) and has to have 2 insulin injections every day.

Could there be any link to the physical trauma that she suffered in the car accident triggering the Diabetes?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Scott

There is no history of Diabetes in the family, she isn't overweight and she is 59 years old

This is actually a very good question. Many people believe that diabetes just happens. That is not always the case. I am an example of that.

Like your mother, I was involved in a very serious car accident. I was 16 at the time. I sustained very critical injuries to my abdomen (liver, spleen, pancreas). I had other injuries but those were the worst. Here it is, 21 years later and I'm an insulin dependent diabetic. My diabetes was caused by a traumatc injury to my pancreas. It just never recovered. I have been diabetic for many years. I recovered from my injuries but I will always show the lasting effects (diabetes, difficulty running from a leg injury, scars on my face from being thrown through the windshield).

So...the answer to your question is yes...it could happen. If your mother sustained pancreatic injuries, it is entirely possible that diabetes could have resulted from it.

Diabetes can be caused by a number of things. Type 1 does not have a strong genetic connection. Type 2 does. There is no history of diabetes in my family. It was a shock when I was diagnosed.

Please note that I am NOT saying this is how your mother developed diabetes. There could be other causes. I'm saying that it is POSSIBLE.

She would need to talk to her doctor about possible causes. Good luck.

EMT
Type 1 diabetic, pump user

very doubtful. IDDM is an endocrine problem and unless she suffered serious injury to her pancreas, it is doubful. most head injuries cause diabetes insipidous so it's not that. chances are that the problem was growing prior to the injury and the recent hospitalization and examinations brought it to the surface. be thankful. without the accident it might not have beebn discovered at her age until much later and only after having caused serious irreversible problems.

diabetes type 1 has genetic links...It is mostly younger people who do not produce insulin..

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcg... (genes and type 1 diabetes)
http://themalebiologicalclock.blogspot.c... (father鈥檚 age and type 1 diabetes)

Diabetes type 2 is mostly older people who are overweight (although sometimes younger people who are overweight too) and the insulin produced is not enough or the body is resistant to the insulin that IS produced. They can sometimes get by on pills to control blood glucose, but sometimes they need insulin with the pills. Her doctor can tell you if her pancreas was damaged in the accident, but I am thinking that you may be confusing type 1 with type 2, since she takes insulin.

I think that it is possible that it may have developed if her pancreas was damaged in the accident. My sister became type I diabetic around age 35. Doctors believe that her pancreas may have become damaged due to some other health problems she has had. Type II runs in our family but not type I.

Often, type 1 follows a stress in the person's life. A cold or flu, emotional stress or a car accident .
The body is working so hard to heal it's self, that it kills off the good cells in the pancreas.
This is very common.

Sorry to hear that your mother was in an accident.
If you ask any chiropractor they will say that all the nerves that are in the spine and the neck travel to all parts of the body, including the pancreas. It is possible that the car accident could have damaged that nerve. Now I'm not saying that going to a chiropractor would reverse it, but it couldn't hurt. No, I'm not one, I just love going to mine. Doctors are no help on this question because all they will say is that no one really knows what triggers type 1. They think my daughter's was triggered by a virus?
Unfortunately, no one can say a definite yes or no to this question.
Have her visit a well referred chiropractor to see if she has any misalignment of her spine or neck from the accident - she probably does if the impact was enough to break a bone - or if she has more headaches now. Like I said, they can't reverse it, but it could help lower her dosages.
Hope she feels better soon.

Type 1 doesn't need to run in the family. Type 1 only has a 3-5 % chance of being "in the family". Type 1 can be brought on by a trauma. Onset of type 1 is usually after a trigger like a virus or a stress full event. I was diagnosed with type 1 three years ago and this is what I was told by many people at the time (diabetes educator, endocrinologist, and in diabetes books)

It is possible. My son had a very serious football injury and the doctor said this might have triggered the disease. There is no diabetes in our family history.

Then again, we will never know for sure.

People who have Type 1 diabetes have a genetic susceptibility. However, the majority do not have a first degree relative with the disease. This is because only 10 - 15% of people with the genetic suceptibility go on to develop the disease.

So why do they develop it? This is a massive research question. It's interesting that although it's a genetic disorder, some people develop it in infancy, some as teenagers, and as I said, some never do develop it. 25% of patients develop it after age 20. Why? Many answers are hypothesized, the most likely being exposed to a specific virus. This exposure could be many months before symptoms develop, and the virus itself could be asymptomatic. Another theory is extreme stress, as well. It also could very possible multi-factorial.