Other names: Insulin Dependent Diabetes; Juvenile onset diabetes; Type 1 Diabetes; Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong disorder caused by an autoimmune attack on the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, which means the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Insulin is a hormone that allows glucose (sugar) to be taken up into cells to produce energy. It is vital for our survival. People with full-blown type 1 diabetes require regular daily injections or infusions of insulin to keep them alive.
Although it can be diagnosed at any age, children are more likely than adults to develop type 1 diabetes with peaks in presentation occurring between the ages of five to seven and around the time of puberty. Males are more likely to be affected and environmental conditions likely play a role in addition to being more genetically susceptible. 1 in 300 children and adolescents develop type 1 diabetes by age 20 years, but those born to people with the condition already are at increased odds with 1 in 40 offspring of mothers and 1 in 15 offspring of fathers developing it. An estimated 1.6 million Americans have type 1 diabetes.
Worldwide, there is a wide geographical variation in presentation; for example, people in the U.S are much more likely to develop type 1 diabetes than people in China. Finland has the highest rate of type 1 diabetes in the world.
