To prevent type 1 diabetes, the cells in the pancreas responsible for producing insulin in individuals at high risk for the disease should be prevented from being destroyed. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, there is no no effective and safe method yet to prevent this disease, even if we consult very early in the life of a child considered at risk. Therefore, any steps to prevent type 1 diabetes should be done in close collaboration with a doctor and in some cases, as part of an experimental study.⁴.

Ongoing research

• Vitamin D. Several observational studies have shown that vitamin D supplementation of young children significantly lowered the risk of developing type 1 diabetes (daily dosages ranged from 400 IU to 2 IU)¹³. However, no clinical trial has yet come to confirm this.¹¹. Given the absence of risks associated with taking vitamin D and its many health benefits, some doctors recommend it as a preventive measure;
• Immunotherapy. This is the most promising path, and the one in which scientists are investing the most. Immunotherapy aims to allow the immune system to “tolerate” the cells in the pancreas responsible for producing insulin. Several forms of immunotherapy are being tested, for example⁵ : a vaccine composed of antigens from the pancreas of the person to be treated; an autologous transplant of immune cells to remove the destructive cells and allow the development of new tolerant cells; and transfusion of blood taken from the umbilical cord at the time of birth (in young children);
• Vitamin B3. Datas in vitro and animal trials have supported the hypothesis that niacinamide (vitamin B3) may have a protective effect on pancreatic beta cells. A few preliminary clinical trials have also nurtured this hope⁶. However, larger studies have not produced convincing results. For example, as part of the European Nicotinamide Diabetes Intervention Trial (ENDIT)⁷, high doses of niacinamide or placebo were given to 552 people at risk of type 1 diabetes (affected close relative, presence of autoantibodies against the pancreas and normal glucose tolerance test). Niacinamide did not reduce the risk of developing diabetes.
• Injecting low doses of insulin. One of the preventive approaches tested is to administer small doses of insulin to people at risk. This approach has been evaluated as part of the Diabetes Prevention Trial – Type 1^8,9. Insulin therapy had no preventive effect except in a high-risk subgroup, in whom the onset of diabetes was slightly delayed.

One of the challenges in research is to target the people most at risk of developing the disease. The appearance in the blood of antibodies against beta cells of the pancreas (autoantibodies) is one of the indicators studied. These antibodies can be present years before the onset of the disease. Since there are several types of these antibodies, it is a question of finding out which ones are the most predictive of the disease, and from what quantity¹⁰.

Consult our Complications of Diabetes sheet.