British researchers found earlier this year that diabetes is caused by a virus. [www.upi.com]

@Pinget: Type 1 diabetes, you mean.

I hope I'm helping someone's Bingo score here....fat people are stupid!!!1!1!! LOLZ!

Disclaimer: That was sarcasm.

4/5 on the quiz. I missed the first answer but the rest were pretty easy.

Start [testing] earlier if you are overweight and experience symptoms. It's also a good idea if you have one or more additional risk factors...

Yeah, but you have to find a doctor willing to test it.

MYTH:Once you have type 2 diabetes you have it for the rest of your life.
FACT:Most of the people who took our nationally representative survey of 1,000 adults echoed this gloomy view. In truth, while type 1 diabetes is currently not curable, the type 2 form of the disease, which is far more common and often rooted in lifestyle factors such as inactivity and obesity, can usually be improved by adopting healthier habits.

Improvement != Cured
If you're not cured then you do have it for the rest of your life. How is this a myth?

@consumerfan: Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body produces Islet Cell Antibodies, which attack and destroy the insulin-producing beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas

@Rectilinear Propagation: It is a myth, but not for everyone. My brother is slender and active and has Type 2 diabetes, so he can't just "lose weight and exercise" to improve his insulin resistance. I, on the other hand, work at a sedentary job, and carry too much weight. I am able to keep my blood sugar down to normal, healthy (/= "recommended") levels simply by adjusting my diet and taking an activity break for 5 minutes every half hour or so (chair exercise, walking in the building, etc.). If I was to lose, say, half of my excess weight, and exercise for an hour three or four times a week, I bet I could get to the point where my insulin resistance was improved enough to eat a healthy, normal diet again (potato chips, fried pies, and Cokes are no good for anyone, of course).

@speedwell, avatar of snark: It's probably important to point out that some late-in-life diabetics who are at first thought to have Type 2 actually find out they have a late-onset, atypical sort of Type 1 diabetes instead. Some people refer to this kind, humorously, as Type 1.5.

@speedwell, avatar of snark: I missed the distinction in the quote for type 1 vs type 2.

My bad.

@Rectilinear Propagation: A distinction without a difference perhaps? My wife is PISSED that I've been labeled as diabetic, but as far as I know it's like alcoholism.

In late January of 2008 I went to the MD and had a fasting blood sugar of around 180 and a followup around the same, labeling me as diabetic. I immediately undertook the diet and exercise changes necessary and dropped 150 pounds over the next year+. I rejected the use of medication out of hand. Within months of starting this, my sugar levels were normal (my morning sugar, which was the worse measurement, is around 80). My bad cholesterol is not normal...it's LOW.

Obviously this will not ring true for everyone -- as with speedwell's brother -- but certainly doable by the vast majority.

Now if they could just make good food and exercise more palatable...it's a struggle!

@Pinget: interesting article, thanks. although it's definitely a sometimes thing and i don't find the results super convincing since they only tested corpses for the virus, and they tested people who died within a year of developing type I diabetes.
not a very representative sample of people who have type I diabetes, since most of us don't die quickly of it anymore.

but it may help lead to answers and maybe a vaccine that could reduce risk.

@Rectilinear Propagation:

It's "cured" the same way you are "cured" from being wheezy after a flight of stairs by going down from 300 lbs to 180 lbs.

Basically, it's a case of "Your body reacts to your bad diet and possible overweight by giving you diabetes. Don't do the things that cause you diabetes anymore and it is 'cured'".

@shepd: I don't know about cured, but how about managed beyond the need of treatment. most would probably still be wise to check the blood at least daily I would think.

@shepd: That's along the lines of how my doctor talks about it. I've been able to stop two medications because of improved glucose control (diet, exercise).

@catastrophegirl: I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 18.5 years ago and the doctor said that is was most likely caused by a virus attacking and killing the insulin producing cells, or my body attacking and killing the cells.

@theboomboomcars: my two year anniversary of adult onset type I diabetes is coming up in october. i'd love it if they could tell me why it happened but all they know is my body killed my islet cells with no illness, no injury, etc.

i keep hoping for an answer to what causes ONE autoimmune disease because that might lead to an answer for the others.

my family has a history of both kinds of diabetes and other autoimmune diseases on both sides.