Sammendrag
Background: Several different factors point to the significance of the role of non-genetic causes in the etiology of type 1 diabetes. Some studies have suggested a positive correlation between early exposure to cow s milk in infancy and increased later risk of developing the disease, while other studies have not found such a correlation. The issue is still unresolved, and in this systematic review I will investigate the most relevant literature on the subject. Methods: I conducted a systematic literature search in Medline and Embase databases, using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. All studies comparing infant cow s milk exposure with type 1 diabetes risk were included in the review. A total of 19 studies were included, most of them being retrospective case-control designed studies. Results: The included studies were categorized in terms of whether they showed a positive, negative or no correlation between infant cow s milk exposure and risk of type 1 diabetes, and with regard to the quality of the studies. Six of the studies results were considered to be positive and convincing for increased risk of type 1 diabetes with early infant exposure, four were positive and plausible or positive and lacking , and 12 showed no effect . Conclusions: Divergent results could be seen between the different studies included in this review with regards to whether early infant cow s milk exposure increases the risk of developing type 1 diabetes or not. On the basis of the findings in this review, one can therefore not conclude with a positive, negative or a non-existing relationship between the respective exposure and the disease.
Background: Several different factors point to the significance of the role of non-genetic causes in the etiology of type 1 diabetes. Some studies have suggested a positive correlation between early exposure to cow s milk in infancy and increased later risk of developing the disease, while other studies have not found such a correlation. The issue is still unresolved, and in this systematic review I will investigate the most relevant literature on the subject. Methods: I conducted a systematic literature search in Medline and Embase databases, using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. All studies comparing infant cow s milk exposure with type 1 diabetes risk were included in the review. A total of 19 studies were included, most of them being retrospective case-control designed studies. Results: The included studies were categorized in terms of whether they showed a positive, negative or no correlation between infant cow s milk exposure and risk of type 1 diabetes, and with regard to the quality of the studies. Six of the studies results were considered to be positive and convincing for increased risk of type 1 diabetes with early infant exposure, four were positive and plausible or positive and lacking , and 12 showed no effect . Conclusions: Divergent results could be seen between the different studies included in this review with regards to whether early infant cow s milk exposure increases the risk of developing type 1 diabetes or not. On the basis of the findings in this review, one can therefore not conclude with a positive, negative or a non-existing relationship between the respective exposure and the disease.