Type 1 Diabetes

Formerly known as juvenile diabetes, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that can develop at any age, but is most often diagnosed in children and young adults. A person with this condition will need to take daily injections of insulin, as the pancreas no longer produces it. Left untreated, type 1 diabetes can lead to serious complications, such as damage to the kidneys, eyes, and nerves. Insulin treatment, physical activity, and a healthy diet are standard treatments for this condition.

What Is Type 1 Diabetes?

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.
 

Cause of Type 1 Diabetes

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."
 

Treating Type 1 Diabetes

A type 1 diabetes treatment plan for young people includes:
 
  • 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.
Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Other Articles in This eMedTV Presentation