TEDDY Study

We had another TEDDY visit on Monday...which is how I know Jaina's height & weight already! What is this "TEDDY visit" you ask? Well...here's the low-down.

When Jaina was born, the hospital asked if we wanted to have her cord blood run through some genetic tests. The tests were for like 6 or 7 different things, one being Type 1 Diabetes. We said, "Sure," since diabetes & such runs on both sides of the family. Well, we got a telephone call and letter about 6 weeks or so after Jaina was born saying that she's got the higer risk genes to possibly develop T1D in the future and we were offered to participate in The TEDDY Study.

TEDDY Stands for The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young. We're doing our study through the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. It's all free and the child is monitored up to the age of 15. Plus, we get small monetary compensation and we got free coupons for packs of diapers! They do small blood draws every 3 months, monthly stool samples - which parents collect , water samples, 3-day food diaries, and even toenail clippings. Not sure what they do w/ the toenails...

Here's the basics: What Is TEDDY? The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) consortium is a network of centers with a mission to organize international efforts to identify infectious agents, dietary factors, or other environmental factors, which trigger type 1 diabetes in genetically susceptible people. TEDDY Objectives The primary aim of TEDDY is to identify infectious agents, dietary factors, or other environmental factors including psychosocial events, which may trigger type 1 diabetes in genetically susceptible people. Other aims include creating a central repository with data and biological samples for use by the scientific community, developing novel approaches to identifying infectious pathogens, dietary factors or other environmental influences that may contribute to the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes and developing a better understanding of disease pathogenesis and new strategies to prevent, delay and reverse type 1 diabetes.

The TEDDY Study is an international research study to discover genes and environmental exposures that may cause type 1 diabetes. There are 6 centers in the U.S. and Europe. The TEDDY study has two stages: TEDDY I The initial screening for the genetic risk to develop type 1 diabetes is either from a) a heel stick at the same time as the state mandated newborn screening or b) a heel stick performed by the pediatrician or the parent. ***for ours, they took a sample of her cord blood*** TEDDY II Babies who are found to be at a high genetic risk to develop type 1 diabetes in the future are eligible to enroll in TEDDY II. TEDDY II will closely examine the child’s environmental risk factors.

TEDDY Sites: - Medical College of Georgia is the lead site for seven hospitals, - Including MCG Medical Center, University Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital in Augusta - Northside Hospital in Atlanta - three hospitals in Gainesville, Fla (sorry, no names) - Barbara Davis Center at the University of Colorado (which is where we go) - Pacific Northwest Research Institute in Seattle - University of Turku in Finland - Lund University in Sweden - Diabetes Research Institute in Munich, Germany - Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida is analyzing the extensive data collected by study sites as they enroll participants over the next four years.