Remission without insulin therapy on gluten-free diet in a 6-year old boy with type 1 diabetes

This study was published in the British Medical Journal 2012 Jun 21

Study title and authors:

Remission without insulin therapy on gluten-free diet in a 6-year old boy with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Sildorf SM, Fredheim S, Svensson J, Buschard K.

Paediatric Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark.

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22729336

This paper describes a 5-year and 10-month old boy was diagnosed with classical type 1 diabetes without celiac disease. Patients with type 1 diabetes typically require an insulin dosage of 0.5 to 1.0 unit per kg per day see here.

The boy was put on a gluten-free diet without insulin treatment.

On the gluten-free diet the boy achieved the following:
(a) His initial HbA1c was 7.8% and was stabilised at 5.8%-6.0% without insulin therapy. (A normal non-diabetic HbA1C is 3.5-5.5%. In diabetes about 6.5% is good).
(b) His fasting glucose was maintained at 4.0-5.0 mmol/l. (Diabetes is diagnosed on the criteria of fasting blood glucose level in excess of 7.7 mmol/l).
(c) He does not need insulin therapy.
(d) The gluten-free diet was safe and without side effects.

Sildorf found that the gluten-free diet prolonged remission in this patient with type 1 diabetes.

Links to other studies:
Gluten-containing foods increase the risk of type 1 diabetes in children
Gluten-free diet may be beneficial in the management of type 1 diabetes
Gluten free diet gives type 1 diabetics an improvement in quality of life, better blood sugar control, disappearance of diarrhea and an increase in the uptake of iron