Researchers have long puzzled over what causes the body to turn against itself in type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that destroys insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas. Now, two studies suggest that insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar concentrations, may itself be to blame.
Insufficient amounts of insulin clearly lead to the symptoms of type 1 diabetes, but researchers haven’t known whether the hormone directly sets the immune system on its course to creating the disease.
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