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As COVID-19 cases rose, so did diabetes — no one knows why

The spike in childhood type 1 diabetes opened new avenues for researchers to explore the cause of the disease.
  1. Clare Watson

    1. Clare Watson is a freelance writer in Wollongong, Australia.

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A study of more than 38,000 young people has confirmed what researchers had begun to suspect: the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a jump in cases of type 1 diabetes in children and teenagers. At first, researchers thought that the rise was caused by the virus itself — but it turns out that is probably not true. Nevertheless, with the overall cause of type 1 diabetes still a mystery, the findings offer new mechanisms for researchers to explore.

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Nature 619, 677-678 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02322-0

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