(Misleading Title. It should be: Stanford Geneticist documents Diabetes onset following Infection)
Snyder had a cold at the first blood draw, which allowed the researchers to track how a rhinovirus infection alters the human body in perhaps more detail than ever before. The initial sequencing of his genome had also showed that he had an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, but he initially paid that little heed because he did not know anyone in his family who had had the disease and he himself was not overweight. Still he and his team decided to closely monitor biomarkers associated with the diabetes, including insulin and glucose pathways. The scientist later became infected with respiratory syncytial virus, and his group saw that a sharp rise in glucose levels followed almost immediately. "We weren't expecting that," Snyder says. "I went to get a very fancy glucose metabolism test at Stanford and the woman looked at me and said, 'There's no way you have diabetes.' I said, 'I know that's true, but my genome says something funny here.' "That's because you people have assumed it's caused by eating fat, dammit.
A physician later diagnosed Snyder with type 2 diabetes, leading him to change his diet and increase his exercise. It took 6 months for his glucose levels to return to normal. "My interpretation of this, which is not unreasonable, is that my genome has me predisposed to diabetes and the viral infection triggered it," says Snyder, who acknowledges that no known link currently exists between type 2 diabetes and infection.
My husband had two salivary gland infections- and lost insulin function after both of them.
I would just like to re-iterate this part:
The woman looked at me and said, 'There's no way you have diabetes.'That is how you speak to us. Sanctimonious Dismissal.
That is exactly what the nurse said to my husband. His blood sugar was 247.
(Just wanted to mention that virus has also been associated with Asthma.)
