In Dan Hurley’s book, Diabetes Rising, he discusses 5 leading scientific hypotheses that offer an explanation for the recent rise in the number of people with diabetes:

  1. The accelerator hypothesis: the rising weight & height of children over the past century has accelerated their tendency to develop T1D by putting the insulin-producing beta cells in their pancreases under stress
  2. The sunshine hypothesis: increased time spent indoors reduces children’s exposure to sunlight, which in turn reduces their vitamin D levels. Low vitamin D levels are linked to autoimmune diseases like T1D
  3. The hygiene hypothesis: the lack of exposure to once-prevalent pathogens with autoimmune hypersensitivity leads to the destruction of the body’s insulin-producing beta cells by rogue white blood cells
  4. The cow’s milk hypothesis: exposure to cow’s milk in infant formula during the 1st 6 months of life wreaks havoc on the immune system and increases the risk of later developing T1D
  5. The POP hypothesis: exposure to persistent organic pollutants increases the risk of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes

The four remedies (the possible cures) that he investigates are:

  1. The computer cure is about artificial pancreas research

Health-e-Solutions comment: By “self-regulating” our diet and physical activity with a diabetic-alkaline lifestyle, we may be curing ourselves of the toxic effects of the standard American diet (SAD), improving our vitamin D levels, reducing the stress on our pancreas and reducing our exposure to persistent organic pollutants.