THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COWS MILK EXPOSURE AND TYPE-1 DIABETES

Environmental factors are important for the development of Type 1 diab etes mellitus. They likely account for changes in the incidence of thi s disease over time, as well as the well-documented differences in inc idence in ethnically and genetically similar people living in differen t parts of the world. There is a relationship between early cow's milk exposure and the development of Type 1 diabetes in humans, and betwee n early cow's milk exposure and the development of autoimmune diabetes in rodent models of Type 1 diabetes. Moreover, some immunological stu dies have suggested a possible mechanism whereby exposure to cow's mil k protein could result in beta-cell directed autoimmunity and subseque nt Type 1 diabetes. Although provocative, the existence of alternative explanations for these epidemiological and biological observations, s uggest that the data are insufficient to conclude that the observed as sociations represent causal relationships or to mandate changes in rec ommendations for infant feeding. The question of whether or not avoida nce of cow's milk protein in infancy will prevent Type 1 diabetes can, however, be tested in an international randomized clinical trial of i nfant diets, which is currently under review.