Endocrine Abstracts

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The incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) has increased markedly after World War II among children and adolescents, and in parallel the mean age at diagnosis has decreased. These trends support a critical role of exogenous factors in the development of T1D, since genetic factors alone can hardly explain the rapid increase. The hygiene hypothesis postulating a relationship between allergic diseases and a childhood environment characterized by a decreased pathogen exposure has rece...