Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body does not make or properly use
insulin, a hormone that is needed to convert glucose (sugar) and other food into energy. There are two main types -- type 1 and
type 2 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes have a
pancreas that doesn't produce enough insulin -- or stops producing it altogether. This means that without treatment sugar can build up in the blood. Therefore, people with type 1 diabetes need to have insulin shots on a regular basis to help keep their blood sugar as close to normal as possible.
Other Names for Type 1 Diabetes
To move away from basing the name of the type 1 diabetes on treatment (insulin-dependent diabetes) or age at onset (juvenile diabetes), in 1997, two organizations recommended a universal adoption of a more simplified terminology.
Type 1 diabetes is an
autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas that regulate blood glucose. A combination of genetic and environmental factors put people at increased risk for type 1 diabetes. Researchers are working to identify these factors and to stop the autoimmune process that destroys the pancreas.
Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age, but it most often occurs in children and young adults. Type 1 diabetes has an acute onset, with children and adolescents usually able to pinpoint when symptoms began.
Since the pancreas can no longer produce insulin, people with type 1 diabetes require daily injections of insulin for life. People with type 1 diabetes are at risk for long-term complications, such as damage to:
Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes
The symptoms of type 1
diabetes usually develop over a short period of time. They include:
- Increased thirst and urination
- Constant hunger
- Weight loss
- Blurred vision.
Children also may feel very tired.
If not diagnosed and treated with
insulin, the individual with type 1 diabetes can lapse into a life-threatening diabetic coma, known as diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA. Often, children will suffer from continued vomiting, a sign of DKA, and mistakenly be diagnosed as having gastroenteritis. New-onset diabetes can be differentiated from a GI (gastrointestinal) infection by the frequent urination that accompanies continued vomiting, as opposed to decreased urination due to dehydration if the vomiting is caused by a GI "bug."
- Insulin therapy
- Self-monitoring of blood glucose
- Healthy eating
- Physical activity.
The plan is designed to ensure proper growth and prevention of hypoglycemia. New management strategies are helping children with type 1 diabetes live long and healthy lives.
Statistics on Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes accounts for 5 percent to 10 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes, but is the leading cause of diabetes in children. Type 1 diabetes in U.S. children and adolescents may be increasing.
Type 1 diabetes occurs equally among males and females, but is more common in whites than in nonwhites. Data from the World Health Organization's Multinational Project for Childhood Diabetes indicates that type 1 diabetes is rare in most African, American Indian, and Asian populations. However, some northern European countries, including Finland and Sweden, have high rates of type 1 diabetes. The reasons for these differences are unknown.
In 2002, all
diabetes types (type 1, type 2, and
gestational diabetes) cost the United States $132 billion. Indirect costs, including disability payments, time lost from work, and premature death, totaled $40 billion; direct medical costs for diabetes care, including hospitalizations, medical care, and treatment supplies, totaled $92 billion.
