Adelaide study needs 1400 pregnant women and new mums to find factors linked to growing type 1 diabetes SURVEY: New mum Cadence Hayes, with her son Edwin, will participate in the study. MORE than 1400 pregnant women and new mothers are being recruited to see if rocketing levels of type 1 diabetes are linked to environmental factors. Being overweight when falling pregnant, diet during pregnancy, exercise, infections, antibiotics and the diet of newborns all will be investigated to see if they are linked to diabetes rates doubling in the past 20 years. Professor Jennifer Couper from the University of Adelaide's Robinson Institute and the Women's and Children's Hospital wants women from all over Australia for the study, which could last a decade as she monitors pregnancies, then tracks the babies. Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common childhood chronic diseases, affecting at least 120,000 Australians. The body's immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The reasons why the immune system attacks the cells are unknown but Prof Couper said environmental factors that children were exposed to in the womb and in early life might be a trigger. "A big contender is weight - up to a third of pregnant women now are overweight - as well as excessive weight gain during pregnancy, if people are eating differently, infections and antibiotics and how all these interact with genes," Prof Couper said. If we can better understand how our environment, including its harmful or protective effects, is contributing to type 1 diabetes, it's hoped that preventions and new therapies will be developed. The $1.5 million study is seeking pregnant women who either have diabetes themselves or have a partner or child with the disease. About 20 women already have enrolled, including new mother Cadence Hayes, 31, of Vale Park, who was diagnosed with diabetes aged 18. Her four-month-old son Edwin does not have it. "It is a condition I think about every hour of every day and will for the rest of my life," Ms Hayes said. It is relentless. I check my blood sugar probably 10 times a day. If I can help find what causes diabetes, and hopefully then what can be done to prevent it so babies can avoid it, I will be very happy. Prof Couper said women and babies in the study would be checked about every three months. Fellow researcher Prof Len Harrison from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute said the study would look at how the modern world interacts with the microbiome - the trillions of microorganisms in our bodies. "The microbiome plays a key role in regulating our immune system and metabolism," he said. We're interested to know whether there are changes in the microbiome of mothers during pregnancy or of young children that may be linked to the development of type 1 diabetes. Pregnant women interested in participating should go to www.endia.org.au or call 8161 8747.