Childhood Type 1 Diabetes Tied to Higher Risk of Later Psychiatric Diagnoses

Authors say findings unlikely to be due to common underlying biological mechanisms

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, July 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) — A childhood diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) may increase risk of later psychiatric conditions, according to a study published online July 17 in Nature Mental Health.

TomÃ¡Å¡ FormÃ¡nek, from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and colleagues used Czech national register data to identify children (aged â‰¤14 years) with T1D between 1994 and 2007. Risk of psychiatric disorders up to 24 years later was assessed.

The researchers found that children diagnosed with T1D had an elevated risk of developing substance use, mood, anxiety and personality disorders, and behavioral syndromes. However, children with T1D had a lower risk of developing psychotic disorders. An association with schizophrenia was identified in Mendelian randomization analysis, but did not persist following multiple testing adjustment.

“The combined observational and Mendelian randomization evidence suggests that T1D diagnosis in childhood predisposes to far-reaching, extensive psychiatric morbidity, which is unlikely to be explicable by common underlying biological mechanisms,” the authors write. “The findings of this study highlight that monitoring and addressing the mental health needs of children with T1D is imperative, whereas glucose dysregulation and/or inflammation implicated in schizophrenia pathogenesis warrants future research.”