The incidence of type 1 diabetes has been increasing. What is the most likely cause?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When considering why the incidence of type 1 diabetes is increasing, we need to weigh how biology and environment interact rather than attributing it to a single static factor.
Option 1: 'Interactions between our genetics and changes in the environment.' This option reflects the prevailing understanding that type 1 diabetes results from a complex interplay between genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers (such as viral exposures or other external factors) that may influence disease onset. It accounts for why incidence can rise without a simple genetic shift.
Option 2: 'An increase in the diagnosis of people with the disease.' While greater awareness, better screening, and improved diagnostic practices can raise reported incidence, this does not explain a true rise in disease occurrence at the biological level; it describes detection, not etiology itself.
Option 3: 'An increase in travel.' Increased travel might change exposure to varying environments or pathogens, but on its own it is too narrow a causal explanation for a disease that is largely driven by host-genetic interactions and early life exposures, not by travel patterns per se.
Option 4: 'A population change in our genetics.' Genetic changes in a population across short timeframes are implausible as a primary driver of the recent rise in type 1 diabetes, given the slow pace of genetic evolution compared to rapid changes in incidence. This option overestimates how quickly allele frequencies shift in human populations and ignores environmental contributors.
In summary, the most plausible and widely supported explanation combines both genetic predisposition and environmental factors, aligning with Option 1 and distinguishing it from explanations that focus solely on detection, travel, or slow genetic shifts.

OLET1504 2025 Prevalence of Diabetes: Knowledge Review

The incidence of type 1 diabetes has been increasing. What is the most likely cause?

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